Kaitlyn Webster

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.