Kristi received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 2025 under a Department of Defense fellowship and has been a biologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District since 2019. She works at the intersection of geochemistry and freshwater ecology, using isotope geochemical tools to understand the biology of freshwater mussels and how these animals respond to changing hydrologic and chemical conditions in the rivers near Pittsburgh. Her work at the Army Corps combines mussel and fishery research with Endangered Species Act compliance, ensuring that federally endangered mussels in the waterways are protected during large-scale Army Corps navigation and flood control efforts. Past and ongoing projects include geochemical and growth analysis of museum mussel shell collections to understand historical river conditions, assessing the Sr and Ba isotope composition of mussel shells to determine shell provenance and understand biochemical pathways, and evaluating impacts to freshwater mussel communities related to reservoir dam releases. She spends most of her time on the inland waterways and lives on a houseboat near Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River.