Katja Fennel is a marine biologist and numerical mathematician with a PhD in Marine Biology and a Diploma in Numerical Mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany. She is currently working as a Professor at the Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University.

Her research interests and expertise lie in the development of coupled physical-biogeochemical models. Such models are useful tools that can advance our understanding of marine ecosystems and of biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other essential elements. Given the prospect of global climate change, its anticipated impact on the global economy and our quality of life, and the important role of the ocean in the climate system an improved predictive understanding is urgently needed.

Coupled physical-biogeochemical models are increasingly powerful tools. Through the assimilation of data emerging from rapidly developing ocean observing systems and the use of paleoceanographic proxies these models offer enormous potential for predicting changes in marine environments in response to climate variability and direct human influences.

Her research program takes advantage of recent advances in the development of ocean observing systems, ocean modeling and assimilation capabilities, and benefits from expertise at the Centre for Marine Environmental Prediction (CMEP) at Dalhousie and at the Departments of Oceanography and Mathematics and Statistics. In her working group (MEMG) they are using a suite of models that range from coastal to basin-wide to global space scales, and from inter-annual and decadal to millennial time scales.