AAAS Elects UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center Director Stephanie Hampton as Fellow
Stephanie Hampton, the newly appointed director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) and professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society.
The prestigious honor, which the society bestows annually, is reserved for researchers who have made significant advancements to science or its applications.
AAAS selected Hampton for her distinguished contributions that have advanced environmental and aquatic science through interdisciplinary collaboration by enabling the infrastructure, open science, education, and training needed for large-scale inclusive environmental research.
“I am humbled to join this esteemed group of colleagues, and very pleased for the recognition of interdisciplinary collaborative work,” said Hampton.
AAAS will formally recognize Hampton’s election at the annual Fellows Forum in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. The honor of being elected a Fellow of AAAS began in 1874 and is acknowledged with a certificate and rosette.
Hampton arrived at UC Davis after serving in various leadership roles in interdisciplinary environmental research institutions, including four years as director of the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation. She is also the President of the Ecological Society of America.
For the past two decades, Hampton has been advancing research in freshwater ecology, focusing on the dynamic factors that shape aquatic ecosystems. With long-term ecological data collected from lakes as globally diverse as Lake Baikal in Siberia and Lake Washington in Seattle, she has helped inform environmental conservation efforts and policymaking. Much of her work involves understanding the implications of climate change on water quality, human safety, biodiversity and global nutrient cycles.
As director of the TERC, she is leveraging her knowledge and experience of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide to benefit watershed research, education, and stewardship in the Lake Tahoe region and beyond.
The AAAS fellowship builds upon Hampton’s other distinguished honors, including a Chandler-Misener Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research, and fellowship in the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography which honored her with its Ramón Margalef Award for Excellence in Education in 2020. Hampton 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.
About Tahoe Environmental Research Center
UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center is dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education to advance the knowledge of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and their interactions within natural and developed Earth systems, and to communicate science-informed solutions worldwide.
