Katherine is the Director of the Food and Feed Safety Division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, overseeing manufactured food, retail food, animal feed, and produce safety inspection programs. She has over 20 years of regulatory experience in field inspection, supervisory, compliance, and management roles. Katherine also served on the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management implementation working group.

She received her Registered Environmental Health Specialist credential in 2008 and completed the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) Fellowship in Food Protection as a member of the 2010 Cohort. She also served as President of the Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO) Board of Directors and participates as a state program representative on a variety of national food safety collaboratives.

She also serves as a member of the FSPCA Executive Advisory Board and co-chairs the Preventive Controls for Human Foods curriculum review workgroup.

Katherine is a graduate of Iowa State University's Animal Science program and has completed advanced coursework in Food Safety at Iowa State University and Michigan State University.