The Lindy Johnson Fellowship

The Lindy Johnson Fellowship at the New England Aquarium honors the work and legacy of Lindy Johnson, a dedicated advocate for the ocean and marine life. Each year, the fellowship is awarded to a scientist in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life to support their professional development and career growth opportunities.

Meet the 2026 Lindy Johnson Fellow 

Katherine McKenna  

Katherine McKenna is a research assistant with the Ecology, Mapping and Assessment of Marine Populations (EcoMAP) Department at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. She is a member of the aerial survey team and participates in surveys of wind energy development areas and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. She also assists with photo and data analysis, report writing, and research projects.

“I will use the Lindy Johnson Fellowship to attend the 2026 Society for Marine Mammalogy Biennial Conference because it offers a valuable and timely opportunity for me to learn more about photogrammetry techniques and applications in marine mammal research. This year, I have started working to advance aerial photogrammetry capabilities from our survey plane, which will expand our ability to collect photogrammetry data to assess body condition, size, and health of various species seen during our aerial surveys, including the North Atlantic right whale. Attending this conference will support my professional development by providing me with a key opportunity to connect with others in this field and learn about the latest advancements in photogrammetry. This will strengthen my ability to apply photogrammetry methods to our aerial surveys while still in the project’s early stages and to support our existing drone-based photogrammetry efforts.”

About Lindy Johnson

Lindy Johnson started her career as an attorney-advisor with the Office of General Counsel for International Law at NOAA in 1992. She worked tirelessly on issues related to land-and sea-based sources of marine pollution, environment and navigation, marine protected areas, coral issues, noise and marine mammals, and vessel strikes of right whales. Her legacy is the large number of international environmental treaties that she negotiated and, in particular, her work on protecting North Atlantic right whales from vessel strikes. Lindy was considered an international expert in all matters concerning the protection of the marine environment. Her care, compassion, and humanity are an example to us all.  

The purpose of this fellowship fund is to honor Lindy Johnson’s passion to protect the ocean and its inhabitants. We will solicit applications from prospective fellows who are passionate about protecting the oceans and create a cadre of individuals who can carry forward the work that is so important to Lindy, her family, and colleagues.