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How a 91˿Ƶ undergrad’s summer research project became a paper in a prestigious journal

Published: 17 November 2025

When then-91˿Ƶ undergraduate Maya Willard-Stepan cold-emailed a professor asking to help with their research, she didn’t expect the project to end up in the Nature-partner journal .

“I really wanted to get involved in research early,” said Willard-Stepan, who had come to 91˿Ƶ from a small town on Vancouver Island.

Her interest in research, plus her love of the outdoors and early fascination with climate science, led Willard-Stepan to reach out to Prof. Eric Galbraith in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. She joined his lab through 91˿Ƶ’s Science Undergraduate Research Award, which funds students to work alongside professors during the summer.

“Summer funding and other scholarships from 91˿Ƶ gave me the space to focus on science full-time without having to juggle other jobs,” she said.

Read the full story here. 

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