Katherine Schuler

About Katherine

Katie Schuler works at the intersection of art, entrepreneurship, community development and stewardship of the natural world. As a photographer and videographer, Katie has traveled to over 20 countries across six continents documenting wildlife and their habitats. As an artist and producer, she has led outreach efforts to vulnerable communities and undereducated youth, both at home and abroad. Katie’s clients rank among the most recognizable in environmental education including National Geographic, The Smithsonian Institute, Conservation International, Woods Hole Oceanographic and PBS. Katie is a graduate of the Corcoran College of Art and Design, a recipient of the prestigious Koenig Trust Scholarship and the founder of Coral & Oak Studios. Katie embraces a collaborative, holistic approach to solving problems of sustainability and environmental awareness, and believes that visual storytelling can be a transformative experience that changes hearts and minds for the better. Katie currently resides in Washington, DC and is a proud native of Palm Harbor, Florida.
As a 2014-2015 Luce Scholar, Katie spent her year focusing on marine conservation advocacy in  Dumaguete city in the Philippines . She partnered with the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and the IUCN Red List to create a film about the Pangolin, the most illegally poached animal in the world. After working with  Silliman University Marine Lab’s graduate, Tina Rey Santos, Katie created a short web video, “The Smaller Majority” which introduces the tiny, yet important micro predators, known as Gnathiid Isopods. She taught workshops about bioluminescence and nature photography at a summer camp known as the Danjugan Environmental Education Program, which later commissioned Katie to produce and illustrate a playful story for local audiences that helps explain the importance of Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s). The larger dream of that animation is for it to be translated into multiple languages in order to reach audiences worldwide. Katie participated in several scientific dive surveys across the Visayas. She learned to identify tropical fish and was certified as an iSeahorse ambassador. Katie’s legacy is left in the form of a mobile public art piece known as “The Fishcycle,” which gives rides to locals in Dumaguete while also educating them about ways to keep trash out of the ocean. Check out her works on Coralandoak.com.