Sarah Kaatz

With degrees in fisheries, aquaculture, and biology, Sarah Kaatz assumed she would work in the fisheries field for her entire career. However, after joining the former Office for Responsible Research (ORR) at Iowa State, she found that there were doors opening to her in research administration that completely changed her planned career path. These new opportunities ultimately led her to being named director of ORR in 2016. In 2020, ORR merged with the Office for Research Integrity (ORI) to form the Office of Research Ethics (ORE), which Sarah serves as director.

Before moving into her current role, Sarah served as post-approval monitor, meeting with faculty, staff, and students who were conducting research that required Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval to be sure they were complying with federal regulations and Iowa State policy. She served as ORR interim assistant director before accepting the position of director of ORR and now ORE. In this role, Sarah oversees all aspects of research ethics and compliance to ensure the university maintains the highest level of overall institutional research integrity.

Sarah holds an M.S. in fisheries biology and aquaculture from Iowa State and a B.S. in biology from UW-Stevens Point.

What part of your job would you do even if you didn’t get paid for it?

“I enjoy teaching and helping people, so I would still want to help guide researchers through the research regulation landscape. It’s important that they understand and work within regulations while still being able to complete their valuable work.”

Sarah can help with:

Understanding and navigating Iowa State’s human, animal, and biohazard research review processes; answering questions about federal requirements and Iowa State policies; and determining which regulatory requirements apply to specific research projects researchers are working on.