College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Katie is a masters student in Dr. Cheryl Murphy's lab looking at the impacts of PFAS on fish populations. Her thesis research aimed to model fish population dynamics to see how the adverse effects of PFAS exposure on individual fish would impact whole populations. She also modeled how the impacts of PFAS on immune function may influence the spread of infectious pathogens throughout fish populations. Throughout graduate school, Katie has been able to participate in several research projects focused on identifying how fish uptake and depurate PFAS from food and water exposures, along with how fish respond to infectious pathogens in combination with PFAS exposure. Katie received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology/ Zoology in 2022 from Michigan State University. Since the beginning of 2025, she has been working as a research assistant for the Center for PFAS Research where her work focuses on how PFAS can impact agriculture. In this position, she has been developing educational materials, giving presentations to various stakeholders in the agricultural community and working with farmers who are interested in testing their farmland for PFAS.