World of Coffee San Diego 2026

Kate Fischer, Ph.D.
Professor & Coffee Researcher
University of Colorado


Dr. Kate Fischer is a cultural anthropologist and Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has been in coffee since 2005 and has conducted research with producers in Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia. Her research focuses on gender and ethnicity; the political economy of coffee; migration and stability; and the challenges in determining quality at all levels, from farms and mills in Central America to industry centers in the global North. She is a CQI Post-Harvest Processing Expert and was a core member of the team that developed the Coffee Sustainability program for SCA.

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