S-STEM Scholars Community Workshop: My STEM Story

Caroline Murphy has built her career at the intersection of science, policy, and public engagement, translating the work of wildlife biologists and ecologists for congressional offices, administration officials, and broader audiences. Throughout her career, she has worked to strengthen decision makers’ literacy on wildlife conservation and management issues, and has advanced science-based solutions that support the recovery of at-risk species. Originally from upstate New York, Caroline holds a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Delaware.

Ariya is an incoming Neuroscience PhD student at UC Berkeley, currently working as a research technician in molecular neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute. Her primary research focus is on discovering natural, non-opioid modulators of pain by targeting PIEZO2, a mechanosensitive ion channel that mediates our sense of touch. She is the second in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, and the first to earn a master’s. Growing up low-income, she had an unconventional route into research and works as an educator to advocate for class diversity in higher academia and science.

Kaitlyn is a reproductive biologist in the department of Genetics at Harvard, where she explores big questions about sex development and fertility using small, eyeless cavefish. She studied Biology at Smith College and cultivated a passion for all things reproduction as a research assistant in a gynecologic pathology lab. Kaitlyn earned a PhD in Molecular Biology from UMass Boston through her research on genetic causes of male infertility using zebrafish as a model system. Currently, she studies ovary and testis development and uses rapidly evolving cavefish as a platform to discover factors that ensure species-specific sperm-egg fusion, a project that earned her a 2025 L’Oréal For Women in Science fellowship. As a first-gen student from a low-income family, she is a passionate advocate for accessible STEM outreach and community-based mentorship. Kaitlyn is on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Science Club for Girls, through which she also serves as a mentor to youth in her hometown of Cambridge, mirroring – and paying forward – her own pathway into science.