Dr. Karen Osborn is an invertebrate zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History specializing in pelagic animals, those that live up off the sea floor in the open ocean. She grew up loving animals and the outdoors but only chose marine biology after spending a year teaching high school in Pohnpei, Micronesia. She was SCUBA diving every chance she got on the lush coral reefs that surround the tropical Pacific island. Seeing the huge variety of shapes and sizes of animals that make up the reef communities made her wonder how that much diversity came about. How do all those different animals accomplish basically the same thing - survival and reproduction - with such different bodies and ways of living?  Karen returned to her undergraduate university in the midwest, Andrews University, and signed up for summer courses at a marine station in Washington state.

Karen then completed a Masters degree at Western Washington University, an internship at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, her doctorate at University of California, Berkeley, and a postdoc at Scripps Institution of Oceanography before coming to the Smithsonian in 2011. She studies evolution of pelagic invertebrates, asking questions such as: What is this amazing and bizarre creature? How did it evolve? Where does it live? Is this one in the Pacific Ocean the same as the one I saw in the Indian Ocean? How does it use those strange cone shaped eyes? Who are its closest relatives and do they live and function in a similar way? Karen's favorite part of her work is exploring the deep, open-ocean with a remotely operated vehicle or a manned submersible and observing the fantastic animals in their natural habitat.

Article

• Gonzalez, Brett C., González, Vanessa L., Martínez, Alejandro, Worsaae, Katrine, and Osborn, Karen J. 2023. "A transcriptome-based phylogeny for Polynoidae (Annelida: Aphroditiformia)." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107811. 2023
• Rogers, Alex David, Appiah-Madson, Hannah, Ardron, Jeff A., Bax, Nicholas J., Bhadury, Punyasloke, Brandt, Angelika, Buttigieg, Pier-Luigi, De Clerck, Olivier, Delgado, Claudia, Distel, Daniel L., Glover, Adrian, Gobin, Judith, Guilhon, Maila, Hampton, Shannon, Harden-Davies, Harriet, Hebert, Paul, Hynes, Lisa, Lowe, Miranda, MacIntyre, Sandy, Madduppa, Hawis, Mazzuco, Ana Carolina De Azevedo, McCallum, Anna, McOwen, Chris, Nattkemper, Tim Wilhelm, Odido, Mika et al. 2023. "Accelerating ocean species discovery and laying the foundations for the future of marine biodiversity research and monitoring." Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1224471. 2023
• Gonzalez, Brett C., Conde-Vela, Victor, and Osborn, Karen J. 2023. "Synonymization of two, monotypic black-coral-commensal scale worm genera, Antipathipolyeunoa Pettibone, 1991 and Parahololepidella Pettibone, 1969 (Polynoidae, Aphroditiformia)." ZooKeys, 1178 61–68. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1178.106101. 2023
• Bachmann, Lutz, Beermann, Jan, Brey, Thomas, de Boer, Hugo J., Dannheim, Jennifer, Edvardsen, Bente, Ericson, Per G. P., Holston, Kevin C., Johansson, Veronika A., Kloss, Paul, Konijnenberg, Rebecca, Osborn, Karen J., Pappalardo, Paula, Pehlke, Hendrik, Piepenburg, Dieter, Struck, Torsten H., Sundberg, Per, Markussen, Stine Svalheim, Teschke, Katharina, and Vanhove, Maarten P. M. 2023. "The role of systematics for understanding ecosystem functions: Proceedings of the Zoologica Scripta Symposium, Oslo, Norway, 25 August 2022." Zoologica Scripta, 52, (3) 187–214. https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12593. 2023
• Bagheri, Zahra M., Jessop, Anna-Lee, Partridge, Julian C., Osborn, Karen J., and Hemmi, Jan M. 2022. "A new computational model illuminates the extraordinary eyes of Phronima." PLOS Computational Biology, 18, (10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010545. 2022
• Breusing, Corinna, Osborn, Karen J., Girguis, Peter R., and Reese, Aspen T. 2022. "Composition and metabolic potential of microbiomes associated with mesopelagic animals from Monterey Canyon." ISME Communications, 2, (1) 117. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00195-4. 2022
• Worsaae, Katrine, Hansen, Malte J., Axelsen, Oscar, Kakui, Keiichi, Moller, Peter R., Osborn, Karen J., Martinez, Alejandro, Gonzalez, Brett C., Miyamoto, Norio, and Fujita, Yoshihisa. 2021. "A new cave-dwelling genus and species of Nerillidae (Annelida) from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan." Marine Biodiversity, 51, (4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01199-4. 2021
• Stenvers, Vanessa I., Hauss, Helena, Osborn, Karen J., Neitzel, Philipp, Merten, Véronique, Scheer, Stella, Robison, Bruce H., Freitas, Rui, and Hoving, Henk Jan T. 2021. "Distribution, associations and role in the biological carbon pump of Pyrosoma atlanticum (Tunicata, Thaliacea) off Cabo Verde, NE Atlantic." Scientific Reports, 11, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88208-5. 2021
• Polski, Ashley A., Osborn, Karen J., Hayward, James L., Joo, Elliot, Mitchell, Athena T., Sandler, Amanda G., and Henson, Shandelle M. 2021. "Egg cannibalism as a foraging tactic by less fit Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens)." Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 133, (4) 552–567. https://doi.org/10.1676/20-00072. 2021
• Stenvers, Vanessa, I., Gonzalez, Brett C., Goetz, Freya E., Hemmi, Jan M., Jessop, Anna-Lee, Lin, Chan, Hoving, Henk-Jan T., and Osborn, Karen J. 2021. "Extraordinary eyes reveal hidden diversity within the holopelagic genus Paraphronima (Amphipoda: Hyperiidea)." Deep-Sea Research Part I-Oceanographic Research Papers, 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2021.103610. 2021
• Daniels, Joost, Aoki, Nadege, Havassy, Josh, Katija, Kakani, and Osborn, Karen J. 2021. "Metachronal Swimming with Flexible Legs: A Kinematics Analysis of the Midwater Polychaete Tomopteris." Integrative and Comparative Biology, 61, (5) 1658–1673. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab059. 2021
• Ballou, Lauren, Iliffe, Thomas M., Kakuk, Brian, Gonzalez, Brett C., Osborn, Karen J., Worsaae, Katrine, Meland, Kenneth, Broad, Kenneth, Bracken-Grissom, Heather, and Olesen, Jorgen. 2021. "Monsters in the dark: systematics and biogeography of the stygobitic genus Godzillius (Crustacea: Remipedia) from the Lucayan Archipelago." European Journal of Taxonomy, 751 115–139. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.751.1383. 2021
• Gonzalez, Brett C., Martinez, Alejandro, Worsaae, Katrine, and Osborn, Karen J. 2021. "Morphological convergence and adaptation in cave and pelagic scale worms (Polynoidae, Annelida)." Scientific Reports, 11, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89459-y. 2021
• Allentoft-Larsen, Marc C., Gonzalez, Brett C., Daniels, Joost, Katija, Kakani, Osborn, Karen J., and Worsaae, Katrine. 2021. "Muscular adaptations in swimming scale worms (Polynoidae, Annelida)." Royal Society Open Science, 8, (10). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210541. 2021
• San Martín, Guillermo, Álvarez-Campos, Patricia, Kondo, Yusuke, Núñez, Jorge, Fernández-Álamo, María Ana, Pleijel, Fredrik, Goetz, Freya E., Nygren, Arne, and Osborn, Karen. 2021. "New symbiotic association in marine annelids: ectoparasites of comb jellies." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 191, (3) 672–694. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa034. 2021
• Lin, Chan, Hoving, Henk-Jan T., Cronin, Thomas W., and Osborn, Karen J. 2021. "Strange eyes, stranger brains: exceptional diversity of optic lobe organization in midwater crustaceans." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288, (1948). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0216. 2021
• Pappalardo, Paula, Collins, Allen G., Pagenkopp Lohan, Katrina M., Hanson, Kate M., Truskey, Sarit B., Jaeckle, William, Ames, Cheryl Lewis, Goodheart, Jessica A., Bush, Stephanie L., Biancani, Leann M., Strong, Ellen E., Vecchione, Michael, Harasewych, M. G., Reed, Karen, Lin, Chan, Hartil, Elise C., Whelpley, Jessica, Blumberg, Jamie, Matterson, Kenan, Redmond, Niamh E., Becker, Allison, Boyle, Michael J., and Osborn, Karen J. 2021. "The role of taxonomic expertise in interpretation of metabarcoding studies." ICES Journal of Marine Science, 78, (9) 3397–3410. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsab082. 2021
• Hughes, Lauren E., Bruce, Niel L., and Osborn, Karen J. 2020. "Aegiochus gracilipes (Hansen, 1895) a senior synonym of Aegiochus tara Bruce, 2009 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Aegidae)." Zootaxa, 4803, (2) 388–392. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4803.2.10. 2020
• Brix, Saskia, Osborn, Karen J., Kaiser, Stefanie, Truskey, Sarit B., Schnurr, Sarah M., Brenke, Nils, Malyutina, Marina, and Arbizu, Pedro Martinez. 2020. "Adult life strategy affects distribution patterns in abyssal isopods - implications for conservation in Pacific nodule areas." Biogeosciences, 17, (23) 6163–6184. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6163-2020. 2020
• Brix, Saskia, Osborn, Karen J., Kaiser, Stefanie, Truskey, Sarit B., Schnurr, Sarah M., Brenke, Nils, Malyutina, Marina, and Martinez, Pedro M. 2020. "Adult life strategy affects distribution patterns in abyssal isopods -- implications for conservation in Pacific nodule areas." Biogeosciences Discussions, 17, (23) 6163–6184. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2019-358. 2020
• Gonzalez, Brett, Martínez, Alejandro, Olesen, Jørgen, Truskey, Sarit, Ballou, Lauren, Allentoft-Larsen, Marc, Daniels, Joost, Heinerth, Paul, Parrish, Mark, Manco, Naqqi, Ward, Jon, Iliffe, Thomas M., Osborn, Karen J., and Worsaae, Katrine. 2020. "Anchialine biodiversity in the Turks and Caicos Islands: New discoveries and current faunal composition." International Journal of Speleology, 49, (2) 71–86. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.49.2.2316. 2020
• Davis, Alexander L., Thomas, Kate N., Goetz, Freya E., Robison, Bruce H., Johnsen, Sönke, and Osborn, Karen J. 2020. "Ultra-black Camouflage in Deep-Sea Fishes." Current Biology, 30, (17) 3470–3776.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.044. 2020
• Bentlage, Bastian, Osborn, Karen J., Lindsay, Dhugal J., Hopcroft, Russell R., Raskoff, Kevin A., and Collins, Allen G. 2018. "Corrigendum to Loss of metagenesis and evolution of a parasitic life style in a group of open-ocean jellyfish Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 124 (2018) 50-59." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 126 390–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.017. 2018
• Schnurr, Sarah, Osborn, Karen J., Malyutina, Marina, Jennings, Robert, Brix, Saskia, Driskell, Amy, Svavarsson, Jö, and Martinez Arbizu, Pedro. 2018. "Hidden diversity in two species complexes of munnopsid isopods (Crustacea) at the transition between the northernmost North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas." Marine Biodiversity, 48, (2) 813–843. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-018-0877-6. 2018
• Bentlage, Bastian, Osborn, Karen J., Lindsay, Dhugal J., Hopcroft, Russell R., Raskoff, Kevin A., and Collins, Allen G. 2018. "Loss of metagenesis and evolution of a parasitic life style in a group of open ocean jellyfish." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 124 50–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.030. 2018
• Zhang, Jinghuai, Zhang, Yanjie, Osborn, Karen J., and Qiu, Jian-Wen. 2017. "Description of a new species of Eulepethus (Annelida, Eulepethidae) from the northern South China Sea, and comments on the phylogeny of the family." Zootaxa, 4226, (4) 581. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4226.4.8. 2017
• Haddock, Steven H. D., Christianson, Lynne, Francis, Warren, Martini, Sé, Powers, Meghan, Dunn, Casey, Pugh, Philip, Mills, Claudia, Osborn, Karen J., Seibel, Brad, Choy, Anela, Schnitzler, Christine, Matsumoto, George, Messié, Monique, Schultz, Darrin, Winnikoff, Jacob, Gasca, Rebeca, Browne, William, Johnsen, Sönke, Schlining, Kyra, von Thun, Susan, Erwin, Benjamin, Ryan, Joseph, and Thuesen, Erik. 2017. "Insights into the Biodiversity, Behavior, and Bioluminescence of Deep-Sea Organisms Using Molecular and Maritime Technology." Oceanography, 30, (4) 38–47. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2017.422. 2017
• Burridge, Alice K., Hörnlein, Christine, Janssen, Arie W., Hughes, Martin, Bush, Stephanie L., Marlétaz, Ferdinand, Gasca, Rebeca, Pierrot-Bults, Annelies, Michel, Ellinor, Todd, Jonathan A., Young, Jeremy R., Osborn, Karen J., Menken, Steph B. J., and Peijnenburg, Katja T. C. A. 2017. "Time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of pteropods." PLOS ONE, 12, (6) 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177325. 2017
• Bagge, Laura E, Osborn, Karen J., and Johnsen, Sönke. 2016. "Nanostructures and Monolayers of Spheres Reduce Surface Reflections in Hyperiid Amphipods." Current Biology, 26, (22) 3071–3076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.033. 2016
• Capa, María, Osborn, Karen J., and Bakken, Torkild. 2016. "Sphaerodoridae (Annelida) of the deep Northwestern Atlantic, including remarkable new species of Euritmia and Sphaerephesia." ZooKeys, 615 1–32. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.615.9530. 2016
• Baldwin Fergus, Jamie L, Johnsen, Sönke, and Osborn, Karen J. 2015. "A Unique Apposition Compound Eye in the Mesopelagic Hyperiid Amphipod Paraphronima gracilis." Current Biology, 25, (4) 473–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.12.010. 2015
• Bracken-Grissom, Heather, Collins, Allen Gilbert, Collins, Timothy, Crandall, Keith, Distel, Daniel, Dunn, Casey, Giribet, Gonzalo, Haddock, Steven, Knowlton, Nancy, Martindale, Mark, Medina, Monica, Messing, Charles, O'Brien, Stephen J., Paulay, Gustav, Putnam, Nicolas, Ravasi, Timothy, Rouse, Greg W., Ryan, Joseph F., Schulze, Anja, Worheide, Gert, Adamska, Maja, Bailly, Xavier, Breinholt, Jesse, Browne, William E., Diaz, M. Christina et al. 2014. "The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA): Developing Community Resources to Study Diverse Invertebrate Genomes." The Journal of Heredity, 105, (1) 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/est084. 2014
• Osborn, Karen J., Gebruk, Andrey V., Rogacheva, Antonina, and Holland, Nicholas D. 2013. "An Externally Brooding Acorn Worm (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta, Torquaratoridae) from the Russian Arctic." Biological Bulletin, 225, (2) 113–123. 2013
• Holland, Nicholas D., Osborn, Karen J., Gebruk, Andrey V., and Rogacheva, Antonina. 2013. "Rediscovery and augmented description of the HMS ‘Challenger’ acorn worm (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta), Glandiceps abyssicola, in the equatorial Atlantic abyss." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 93, (8) 2197–2205. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315413000684. 2013
• Holland, Nicholas D., Osborn, Karen J., and Kuhnz, Linda A. 2012. "A new deep-sea species of harrimaniid enteropneust (Hemichordata)." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 125, (3) 228–240. https://doi.org/10.2988/12-11.1. 2012
• Holland, Nicholas D., Kuhnz, Linda A., and Osborn, Karen J. 2012. "Morphology of a New Deep-Sea Acorn Worm (Class Enteropneusta, Phylum Hemichordata): A Part-Time Demersal Drifter with Externalized Ovaries." Journal of Morphology 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20013 2012
• Holland, Nicholas D., Kuhnz, Linda A., and Osborn, Karen J. 2012. "Morphology of a new deep‐sea acorn worm (class Enteropneusta, phylum Hemichordata): A part‐time demersal drifter with externalized ovaries." Journal of Morphology, 273, (7) 661–671. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20013. 2012
• Priede, Imants G., Osborn, Karen J., Gebruk, Andrey V., Jones, Dan, Shale, David, Rogacheva, Antonina, and Holland, Nicholas D. 2012. "Observations on torquaratorid acorn worms (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta) from the North Atlantic with descriptions of a new genus and three new species." Invertebrate Biology, 131, (3) 244–257. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7410.2012.00266.x. 2012
• Osborn, Karen J., Haddock, Steven, and Rouse, Greg. 2011. "Swima (Annelida, Acrocirridae), holopelagic worms from the deep Pacific." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 163, (3) 663–678. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00727.x. 2011
• Kaufmann, Ronald S., Robison, Bruce H., Sherlock, Rob E., Reisenbichler, Kim R., and Osborn, Karen J. 2011. "Composition and structure of macrozooplankton and micronekton communities in the vicinity of free-drifting Antarctic icebergs." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 58 1469–1484. (Free-Drifting Icebergs in the Southern Ocean) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.11.026. 2011
• Osborn, Karen J., Kuhnz, Linda A., Priede, Imants G., Urata, Makoto, Gebruk, Andrey V., and Holland, Nicholas D. 2011. "Diversification of acorn worms (Hemichordata, Enteropneusta) revealed in the deep sea." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279, (1733) 1646–1654. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1916. 2011
• Sherlock, R. E., Reisenbichler, K. R., Bush, S. L., Osborn, Karen J., and Robison, B. H. 2011. "Near-field zooplankton, ice-face biota and proximal hydrography of free-drifting Antarctic icebergs." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 58 1457–1468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.11.025. 2011
• Hull, Pincelli M., Osborn, Karen J., Norris, Richard D., and Robison, Bruce H. 2011. "Seasonality and depth distribution of a mesopelagic foraminifer, Hastigerinella digitata, in Monterey Bay, California." Limnology and Oceanography, 56 562–576. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2011.56.2.0562. 2011
• Osborn, Karen J. and Rouse, Greg W. 2010. "Phylogenetics of Acrocirridae and Flabelligeridae (Cirratuliformia, Annelida)." Zoologica Scripta, 40, (2) 204–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.2010.00460.x. 2010
• Osborn, Karen J., Madin, L. P., and Rouse, G. W. 2010. "The remarkable squidworm is an example of discoveries that await in deep-pelagic habitats." Biology Letters, 7 449–453. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0923. 2010
• Osborn, Karen J., Haddock, S. H. D., Pleijel, F., Madin, L. P., and Rouse, G. W. 2009. "Deep-Sea, Swimming Worms with Luminescent "Bombs"." Science, 325 964–964. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172488. 2009
• Osborn, Karen J. 2009. "Relationships within the Munnopsidae (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota) based on three genes." Zoologica Scripta, 38 617–635. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.2009.00394.x. 2009
• Osborn, Karen J. and Rouse, G. 2008. "Multiple origins of pelagicism within Flabelligeridae (Annelida)." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 49 386–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.042. 2008
• Osborn, Karen J., Rouse, Greg W., Goffredi, Shana K., and Robison, Bruce H. 2007. "Description and Relationships of Chaetopterus pugaporcinus, an Unusual Pelagic Polychaete (Annelida, Chaetopteridae)." Biological Bulletin, 212, (1) 40–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/25066579. 2007

Chapter

• Hourdez, Stéphane, Osborn, Karen J., and Gonzalez, Brett C. 2022. "Acoetidae Kinberg, 1856." In Pleistoannelida, Errantia II. Purschke, Günter, Böggemann, Markus, and Westheide, Wilfried, editors. 74–92. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Company KG. In Handbook of Zoology, 4. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110647167-004. 2022

Dataset

• Pappalardo, Paula, Collins, Allen G., Pagenkopp Lohan, Katrina M., Hanson, Kate M., Truskey, Sarit B., Jaeckle, William, Lewis Ames, Cheryl, Goodheart, Jessica A., Bush, Stephanie L., Biancani, Leann M., Strong, Ellen E., Vecchione, Michael, Harasewych, M. G., Reed, Karen, Lin, Chan, Hartil, Elise, Whelpley, Jessica, Blumberg, Jamie, Matterson, Kenan, Redmond, Niamh E., Becker, Allison, Boyle, Michael J., and Osborn, Karen J. 2021. [Dataset] Data from: The role of taxonomic expertise in interpretation of metabarcoding studies. Distributed by Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.TDZ08KPZX. 2021
• Burridge, Alice K., Hörnlein, Christine, Janssen, Arie W., Hughes, Martin, Bush, Stephanie L., Marlétaz, Ferdinand, Gasca, Rebeca, Pierrot-Bults, Annelies, Michel, Ellinor, Todd, Jonathan A., Young, Jeremy R., Osborn, Karen J., Menken, Steph B. J., and Peijnenburg, Katja T. C. A. 2017. [Dataset] Photographs of pteropod specimens. Distributed by URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bp106: Dryad Digital Repository. 2017