College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Background

Karen Murchie is a fisheries scientist whose research focuses on fish migration and the ways environmental change and human activity influence aquatic ecosystems. She has worked extensively in freshwater and marine systems, with experience spanning the Laurentian Great Lakes region, the sub-Arctic, the Amazon, and The Bahamas.

Murchie joined Shedd Aquarium in 2016 and now oversees a team of research biologists dedicated to freshwater biodiversity conservation from fish to frogs and freshwater mussels. Karen leads Shedd’s Great Lakes Migratory Fishes program, contributing key life history and behavior data on a critical group of species called suckers (family Catostomidae), which have been historically understudied and underappreciated. The goal is to equip resource managers with information on these species to inform restoration projects and conservation strategies for suckers, while raising public awareness of the challenges that migratory fishes face. Her work ladders up to regional and global initiatives for migratory species and freshwater biodiversity conservation through extensive collaboration with a diverse network of professionals.

In addition to her role at Shedd, Murchie serves as public-at-large advisor for Lake Michigan to the U.S. Committee of Advisors of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, appointed in 2025 by Governor J.B. Pritzker.

Research

Research page