Aquatic ecologist Stephanie Hampton joined Carnegie as Deputy Director of Carnegie’s newly launched Division of Biosphere Sciences and Engineering. She arrived from the National Science Foundation, where she was the director of the Division of Environmental Biology. She was also a professor and the former director of an interdisciplinary environmental research center at Washington State University.

At Washington State, Hampton was part of a leadership team that oversaw the design, construction, and governance of a new research building to house the university’s Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach, of which she was the director at the time. This background will be invaluable as Carnegie prepares to relocate its life and environmental science efforts to Pasadena where experts from a variety of fields will tear down disciplinary silos and tackle environmental, health, and energy system challenges at scales ranging from the molecular to the global.  

Hampton’s own research focuses on the dynamic factors that shape aquatic ecosystems, with a focus on Lake Baikal in Siberia and the lakes of the Pacific Northwest. Her work has informed environmental conservation efforts and policymaking. 

Prior to Washington State, Hampton served in several leadership roles at U.C. Santa Barbara, including deputy director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis, managing director of Science for Nature and People, and Interim Director of Community Engagement and Education for DataONE. She received her Ph.D. in ecology and evolution from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in biology from University of Nevada Las Vegas, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Kansas Lawrence.

In an effort to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion work throughout the organization and our surrounding communities, Carnegie has awarded 10 projects with inaugural DEI mini-grants. The mini-grant program provides up to $5,000 to support DEI-related projects, ideas, or collaborations. 

“The mini-grant program launched last fall and was designed to enable Carnegie faculty, postdocs, and staff to obtain funding for small-scale projects that help advance our local and institutional DEI goals,” said Associate Science Deputy Anat Shahar, who with Science Deputy and Observatories Director John Mulchaey oversees Carnegie’s DEI efforts.

Many of the grants focus on improving access to STEM programs and activities. Both Adrien Burlacot from the Department of Plant Biology and the Department of Global Ecology's Wu Sun received grants to support joint internships between the two Palo Alto-based departments and the Carnegie Academy for Science Education in Washington, D.C.. At the Observatories, Allison Matthews will use a grant to reach under-served Pasadena elementary school students with personalized, hands-on astronomy activity kits and at the Earth and Planets Laboratory (EPL) Johanna Teske will use a grant for computing support for undergraduate interns.

Several grants focus on the intersection of art and science. Plant Biology’s Selena Rice will expand the Plant Cell Atlas initiative's existing art exhibition partnership with HBCUs to showcase the work of historic Black plant researchers. Another Plant Biology program, run by Elena Lazarus, will advance an existing program to organize screenings of and panel discussions about science-related films. At the Observatories, Ethan Nadler will partner with Los Angeles-based arts education organization Create Now to make dark matter visualizations.

EPL’s Suzy Vitale and the Observatories Jeff Rich will both their grants for community outreach. Vitale will organize a Science in Your Backyard event for Washington, D.C., area science lovers and Rich will expand an existing program to bring local Pasadena students to the historic Mount Wilson Observatory.

The Observatories’ Gwen Rudie’s grant is also focused on strengthening community relationships, but with an inward gaze. Her project will facilitate lunchtime conversations and trust-building between different cohorts of employees on campus.

“This is a great batch of recipients, and we look forward to hearing their reflections as their projects progress,” Shahar concluded.