Dr. Bolyard is the Senior Engineer to the Assistant Secretary with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and is a Certified Public Manager. She works directly with the Assistant Secretary to support, set, and guide activities that consistently articulate DEQ’s mission and implement the strategic plan. Her main responsibilities include leading the design, development, presentation and implementation of various departmental environmental projects, programs, and initiatives. Currently, she is working on understanding multi-media impacts from PFAS across various sectors, conducing a fiscal analysis on proposed PFAS surface water standards, and leading technical aspects of our Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. Prior to joining NCDEQ she was a Research Engineer with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in the Research & Development Unit (2021-2022) and the Research and Scholarship Program Manager for the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (2016-2021). She received her PhD and MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Central Florida and BS in Chemistry from the University of Florida. Stephanie has over 16 years of academic and professional experience in solid waste management, wastewater permitting, environmental compliance, transportation, and emerging contaminants. Her research expertise includes solid waste management, analytical chemistry, advance spectroscopic techniques, fate of dissolved organic matter in aquatic systems, biological and advanced oxidation processes, domestic wastewater treatment, nanotechnology, and emerging contaminants. Dr. Bolyard worked for Brown and Caldwell and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection prior to starting her graduate studies. She also holds a courtesy professor appointment at Florida State University and continues to be active in research. She is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association and on the Board of Director of the Air & Waste Management Association. She has previously held positions on the Board of Director for the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Foundation, Chair of the RTP A&WMA Chapter and Director for the South Atlantic States Section of A&WMA. She has received numerous national awards such as the 2022 Air & Waste Management Association Outstanding Young Professional, 2022 American Academic of Environmental Engineers and Scientists 40 under 40 recipient, and 2021 Waste360 40 Under 40 award recipient.