Before NOAA, Kohanowich served as a salvage diving officer and oceanographer in the United States Navy for 23 years, retiring at the rank of Commander.[2][3][4] Kohanowich later commented, "What really got me into diving was that the standards for women were the same [as for men]. Women had to do the same number of sit-ups and push-ups. They had to climb up and down the dive ladders wearing the same 200-pound Mark V dive system."[5]
In 2005 Kohanowich retired from the Navy and joined NOAA as the deputy director of NURP.[3][4][7] She also served as VP for Government and Public Affairs for the Marine Technology Society from 2005 to 2009.[4]
In July 2006, Kohanowich became an aquanaut through her participation in the joint NASA-NOAA, NEEMO 10 (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) project, an exploration research mission held in Aquarius, the world's only undersea research laboratory. Kohanowich and her crewmates lived and worked underwater for seven days.[2][8] Kohanowich was nicknamed "K2" during the mission.[8]
In March 2011, when Kohanowich gave a Women's History Month lecture at the Office of Naval Research, Rear AdmiralNevin Carr commented of Kohanowich: "She is a trailblazer in her field and her achievements are a positive reflection of how important contributions from women have advanced the sciences, and benefitted the Navy."[9]
Kohanowich served as vice president for Government and Public Affairs for the Marine Technology Society from 2005 to 2010, and as Chair of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Society of Woman Geographers from 2014 to 2017 [3] She has been a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame since 2001.[7]