Katie completed a BSc(Hons) at The University of Melbourne in 2006. Her honours project was undertaken as a joint project between the Zoology Department and Museum Victoria and was supervised by Dr. Jane Melville and Dr. Josh Van Buskirk. Her project investigated cryptic speciation in the agamid lizards, Diporiphora magna and D. bilineata using a combination of genetic, morphological and ecological data.
Katie commenced a PhD at Museum Victoria in 2007 in which she is using genetic and acoustic data to assess changes in a hybrid zone that forms between the south-eastern Australian tree frogs, Litoria ewingi and L. paraewingi.