Karen Thompson’s technical career demonstrates an appetite for challenge.
Aside from a two-year spell overseas, Karen Thompson has worked at NIWA since 2001, and is now manager of its Ecotoxicology and Chemistry Group. She has proved her skills in some demanding situations, from conducting assays on long oceanic voyages, to devising experimental setups for fish that had never been subjected to long-term lab tests before, to developing procedures for testing toxic, waterborne bacteria. Recipient of many study awards and with an impressive publication record, Karen pioneered a method for cultivating mussels in-vitro, replacing a stage where they are normally parasitic on fish. This breakthrough allows large numbers of young mussels to be grown in the lab for research. Karen is a mentor and science fair judge, helps with BioBlitz biodiversity monitoring events and uses Twitter to share her science news.
Karen Thompson
Trials, toxins and tweets
Hill Laboratories Laboratory Technologist Award
Karen Thompson’s technical career demonstrates an appetite for challenge.
Aside from a two-year spell overseas, Karen Thompson has worked at NIWA since 2001, and is now manager of its Ecotoxicology and Chemistry Group. She has proved her skills in some demanding situations, from conducting assays on long oceanic voyages, to devising experimental setups for fish that had never been subjected to long-term lab tests before, to developing procedures for testing toxic, waterborne bacteria. Recipient of many study awards and with an impressive publication record, Karen pioneered a method for cultivating mussels in-vitro, replacing a stage where they are normally parasitic on fish. This breakthrough allows large numbers of young mussels to be grown in the lab for research. Karen is a mentor and science fair judge, helps with BioBlitz biodiversity monitoring events and uses Twitter to share her science news.