Stephanie is an undergraduate student in the Marine and Aquatic Biology Program. In the summer of 2024, she        was an REU intern at the Gaither Lab. During her internship, she used 18S metabarcoding methods to study how        storing water samples at room temperature for up to 24 hours affects biodiversity assessments.

As an undergraduate researcher, Stephanie continues this research, working with Ashley Reaume, JK Andres, and Mary Mousumi Akter on projects involving eDNA and plankton metabarcoding. After graduation, she plans to pursue graduate studies on harmful algal blooms to find solutions that can help restore water-based ecosystems