Carol Ann Stepien

Background

Carol Ann was born on April 21, 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Daughter of Theodore John and Anna M. (Bowerman) Stepien.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Bowling Green University, 1979. Master of Science, University Southern California, 1980. Doctor of Philosophy, University Southern California, 1985.

Career

Lecturer University San Diego, 1984-1986. Research associate Hubbs Marine Research Institute, San Diego, 1985-1986, National Science Foundation and Scripps Institution Oceanography, La Jolla, 1986-1988. Sloan postdoctoral fellowship in molecular evolution, 1989-1991.

Research associate National Research Council/Marine Fisheries/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 1991-1992. Assistant professor molecular evolutionary biology Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, 1992-2000. Professor, director Great Lakes Environmental Genetics Laboratory Cleveland State University, 2000—2004.

Director Lake Erie Research Center, University Toledo, since 2004. Professor department earth, ecological and environmental science University Toledo, 2004-2018.

Achievements

• Carol’s research focuses on the conservation genomics and genetics of marine and aquatic fish and invertebrate communities, especially invasive species and those threatened by anthropogenic changes. She was honored to become an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) elected fellow "For distinguished contributions to the fields of molecular evolutionary ecology and conservation genetics, particularly invasive and native populations, and mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students”. She is a Full Professor (adjunct) at Michigan State University in the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations and also holds a lifetime honor as Distinguished Professor of Ecology at the University of Toledo, and has been a Research Associate with the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. She has published 133 scientific papers and book chapters, and has given >297 research presentations on molecular ecology, evolutionary genomics, population genetics, biogeography, and systematics. She has headed >$14 million in NSF, NOAA, EPA, SeaGrant, and USDA grants. Special research interests are community and species diversity comparisons, using genomic and bioinformatic analyses for evaluating planktonic and benthic sediment communities and environmental (e) DNA across time and space, in relation to anthropogenic and natural fluctuations in chemical, physical, and biological patterns in marine and freshwater communities. She serves as associate editor for the journals Ecological Processes and for Aquatic Invasions, and serves on the editorial boards of the journals DNA, Environmental DNA, and Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Her awards include Sigma Xi Outstanding Researcher, University of Toledo’s Outstanding Researcher, and Outstanding Grants”man”ship. She also has served on the International Association for Great Lakes Research board, as associate editor for Journal of Great Lakes Research and the journal Biological Invasions. Her recent research develops and applies targeted high-throughput metabarcode and whole genome re-sequencing to detect, identify, and understand members of marine and freshwater communities, and evaluate their genomic adaptations and genetic connectivity patterns, in relation to environmental conditions (including warming, hypoxia, acidification, and invasive species).

Works

• Enviornmental Research

  • ORCID

• Science research

  • https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carol_Stepien

• Scientific Research

  • http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CJrTt3kAAAAJ&hl=en

Membership

• Best Paper.

  American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

  1983

• American Fisheries Society

• Society for Study of Evolution

• Systematic Biology Society

• Carol Stepien was elected as a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2016.

  American Association for the Advancement of Science

Interests

• Scuba diving, underwater photography.

Connections

Father:

Theodore John Stepien

Mother:

Anna M. (Bowerman) Stepien