KayLee Ridge is from Fort Branch, Indiana, and attends the University of Evansville, majoring in Biology.

KayLee worked with Dr. Cat Vendl to explore the microbiome of dolphins. Necrobiome is the microbiome residing on the skin after the death of the animal. They investigated how the necrobiome changes after death, how it contributes to the decomposition of the dolphin carcass, and if it holds any hints for determining the time since death.