Kathayoon Khalil, PhD is the Principal Evaluator for the Seattle Aquarium. Prior to joining the Aquarium, Kathayoon was the Director of Evaluation at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She received her PhD in Learning Sciences and Technology Design from Stanford University, studying the use of social network analysis to understand how innovation spreads among the zoo and aquarium community.
Kathayoon started her career at as a teen volunteer at the Oregon Zoo and quickly developed a passion for wildlife and conservation. Through over a decade of work in zoo education, Kathayoon has implemented authentic approaches to evaluating visitor learning, including attitude and behavior changes that may have resulted from their visit. She has consulted on education and evaluation for a variety of zoos and aquariums throughout the country and serves as the champion of the AZA’s educational research and evaluation initiative. Kathayoon received her Masters of Environmental Science degree from the Yale School of Forestry and her Bachelors in Organismal Biology from Claremont McKenna College and is an alumna of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program as well as an instructor for Project Dragonfly at Miami University of Ohio.