Alondra Deras Vazquez is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Marquette University. She works with Dr. Brooke Mayer as a part of STEPS. Her research holds a prominent focus in harnessing the potential of phosphate-binding proteins to facilitate the crucial task of removing and recovering phosphorus from water sources. Alondra received her Bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering from Instituto Tecnologico de Tijuana in Mexico.