Katherine Hobbs is a journalist, penguinologist, filmmaker, science communicator and autistic advocate.
Katherine Hobbs is a public media journalist. She hosts and produces the WAKE UP with KERA News morning news products and produces Morning Edition for KERA News, North Texas’ NPR affiliate station. Katherine also reports on science and the environment as well as breaking news. Prior to joining KERA, Katherine produced three award-winning programs for WJCT Public Media in Jacksonville, Florida. She regularly contributes science, breaking news and crisis coverage to NPR, BBC and the Texas Standard. Previously, Katherine wrote for Autism Parenting Magazine, Jacksonville Magazine and EU Jacksonville, as well as freelancing for other publications.
Katherine’s journalism has won awards from the Public Media Journalists Association, the Florida Association for Broadcast Journalists and the Society for Professional Journalism, among others.
Katherine’s work with penguins focuses on identifying correlations between captive and endemic Gentoo penguin's phylogenetic trees via analyses of their mtDNA and observable behavior, with the goal of creating more successful breeding programs that prepare Gentoo penguins for potential reintegration into the wild.
She is also interested in penguins’ breeding and parenting behaviors, specifically as they pertain to extra-paternity pairs, same-sex social pairings and penguins who raise non-biological chicks.
Finally, Katherine aims to understand penguins’ roles as a sentinel species. She hopes to use her combined interests in mtDNA and breeding behaviors to identify patterns between climate change and penguins’ ability to thrive in the wild.
She studies at Unity Environmental University.
In 2022, Katherine co-founded 18 Species Productions, a documentary film company focused on telling stories that cultivate a deep connection the the natural world, inspiring education, exploration and personal growth.
Her most recent project is Sequencing for Survival, a vlogumentary-style digital series that takes viewers on her quest for answers about penguins’ role as a sentinel species. With her best friend and 18 Species Productions co-founder, Josh Torres, in tow, Katherine asks leading penguinologists her burning questions and cultivates a renewed hope for the future of our planet.
Katherine is autistic and it’s her most favorite thing about herself. She loves her brain’s capacity to experience the world differently.
Katherine hyperfocuses on her penguins for hours upon hours. She feels her joy as little sparks in her arms, sees glimmering lights around patterns and sees her memories as if they were staged for a theatre production. She’s deeply sensitive with a strong sense of justice and wildly enthusiastic about her special interests.
Katherine values the joys of autism and recognizes the struggles of living in a world designed for neurotypicals. Her advocacy work includes educating other journalists on best practices when reporting on autism, giving talks on inclusivity to students ranging from grade school to grad school and sharing her lived experiences with her social media following.
Katherine’s work as a science communicator grew naturally from her love of info-dumping about her special interests. Now, she produces science content for public media as well as her social media following. Katherine has been honored as one of Women in Polar Science’s 100 Polar Women and as an Antarctic Ambassador with the IAATO.
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