Jayne Stephens is a PhD student at the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science in University College Dublin.

She graduated with a BSc in Environmental Science from National University of Ireland Galway in 2014, majoring in mammal ecology. After completing her degree, Jayne was the successful Irish applicant to the Tropical Biological Association in Cambridge to carry out and complete a field course in tropical biodiversity and conservation in Tanzania, including a joint research project on pollination diversity at different altitudes. Jayne also worked in the EPA converging reports from county councils into the national database on waste management.

Following a number of years working and volunteering in the outdoors on conservation projects and water-sports in Ireland and New Zealand, Jayne became particularly interested in water pollution and water quality. She has been involved with beach clean ups; eradicating visible pollutants but is now focused on the scientific aspect of contamination at a microscopic level.

Jayne worked as a research assistant for four months before becoming a PhD student with Professor Wim Meijer on operation Acclimatize in microbiological research on contaminants in Irish bathing waters.