Katherine Owens has been an advocate for public participation in hazardous waste remediation activities at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 1991. Since 1996, she has provided business/project management and public communication services through her consulting firm Paragon Professional Associates located in Idaho Falls , Idaho . Previously, Katherine worked for five years at the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute at the University of Idaho as a project manager overseeing water-related research projects directly and indirectly involved with INL activities. Prior to that work, she spent five years at the INL as a project manager of Regulatory, Tribal, and Public Involvement for the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Buried Waste Integrated Demonstration Program then for the U.S. DOE Mixed Waste Focus Area. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Tribal, Regulatory, and Stakeholder Involvement Plans for both programs. Katherine is active on several ITRC teams. She joined the ITRC Sampling, Characterization, and Monitoring team in 2001 and is an instructor on their Triad training course. She joined the ITRC's Risk Assessment Resources team in 2003. Katherine earned a bachelor's degree in corporate training from Idaho State University in Pocatello , Idaho in 1992 and a master's degree in environmental studies from the University of Idaho in Idaho Falls , Idaho in 1997.