In The News – Ask a scientist: Meet Tahoe Environmental Research Center’s new director
August 21, 2025 | Member Submitted
Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 08/21/2025, Written by Clare McArthur, Tahoe Magazine
Stephanie Hampton, an aquatic ecologist with a career spanning continents, recently stepped into her new role as Director of the U.C. Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) this spring. Tahoe Magazine caught up with the scientist to discuss the center’s current research at Lake Tahoe and why tiny particles in the water can tell us big things about the future of our lakes.
What led you to Tahoe and your new position as Director at TERC?
I’m a freshwater biologist and have spent my career studying life in lakes — from microscopic plankton and algae to aquatic insects, plants, and fish. Over the years, I began focusing on long-term datasets from large lakes, including Lake Washington in Seattle and Lake Baikal in Siberia. These lakes, like Tahoe, are ancient, nutrient-poor, and incredibly blue. Working with these datasets really shaped my interest in how lakes change over time and how we can learn from each other’s research globally.
Photo: A TERC field team visits a NASA buoy on Lake Tahoe for data collection and maintenance. Photo / Keeler Nelsen