Lab Alumni
Darby McMartin (UW Undergraduate, 2022-2023): Darby helped with Ashleigh's PhD research and conducted an independent research project about how harmful algal blooms influence food web structure. She departed for an exciting summer doing field work with Idaho Fish and Game.
Colt Duncan (UW Undergraduate, 2023): Colt assisted with processing zooplankton samples during his senior year at UW and is off to join the Peace Corps in Tonga.
Taylor Skiles (Technician, 2022-2023): Taylor assisted with many lab and field tasks for Casey and Ashleigh's projects and is now wrangling fish in the Great Lakes with Michigan DNR.
Sam Sillen (MS, Fall 2022): Sam's MS thesis included two exciting papers that explored 1) long-term productivity dynamics in Mountain West reservoirs using remote sensing estimates of chlorophyll, and 2) a comparison of cyanobacterial biomass based on field samples from Wyoming reservoirs vs. remote sensing estimates from the CYaN data product. He moved on to a research analyst position with John Gardner's lab at the University of Pittsburgh.
Chance Roberts (MS, Fall 2022): Chance was co-advised by Willie Fetzer and conducted research on the food web of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, finding lots of variation in food web linkages across regions of the reservoir and seasons. His work was conducted in collaboration with several Wyoming Fish and Game biologists.
Kelsey Ruehling (MS, Summer 2022): Kelsey's excellent MS thesis incorporated ideas from water quality, freshwater ecology, and microbiology to evaluate sources of microbial pollution to streams in Wyoming. She is moving on to a position as a Natural Resource Analyst with Wyoming Department of Water Quality based in Sheridan.
Katie Bearden (Undergraduate 2020-2021, Technician 2022): Katie assisted with various projects in the lab as an undergraduate student and as a full-time technician after she graduated, including the STOICH project, HCB project, and others. We are super excited that she is moving on to an MS program at South Dakota State working on fish movement with Alison Coulter.
Karen Jorgenson (MS, Spring 2022): Karen completed an awesome MS thesis on alpine stream food webs in the Tetons, finding high amounts of flexibility in food web linkages across streams with different hydrologic sources. She is returning to Tamara Harms' lab at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to conduct research on watershed biogeochemistry.
Emma Román (Undergraduate, Summer 2021): Emma brought her excellent field and lab skills to help Kelsey sample and enumerate E. coli and extract lots of DNA in Teton County in Summer 2021. She continued this work as part of her senior thesis at Middlebury College and is now a lab technician at the California Academy of Sciences and Stanford University.
Macy Jacobson (UW Undergraduate, Summer 2021): Macy did an awesome job assisting Sam with Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom sampling in reservoirs across Wyoming in Summer 2021.
Jaide Phelps (Inaugural lab member/technician/lab manager/jack of all trades, 2018-2021): Jaide kept the lab running, helped with various field projects, prepped so many stable isotope samples that the isotope lab offered her a job, did lab work on the COVID wastewater project, and kept Sarah updated on the latest seasons of the Bachelor. She's also wrapping up a manuscript that demonstrates the utility of sulfur isotopes for understanding how stocked fish are incorporated into reservoir food webs. She is currently pursuing an MS in Marine Biology with Katrin Iken at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Lisa Harris (UW Undergraduate, 2021): Lisa assisted with a project about aquatic invertebrate gut microbiomes during the Spring 2021 semester.
Mikey Castillion (UW Undergraduate, 2020-2021): Mikey assisted with Karen's MS research in alpine streams in Grand Teton National Park. She graduated from UW in 2021 with a double major in Environmental System Science and Environment and Natural Resources with minors in geology, sustainability, and outdoor leadership and is currently working for NOLS.
Corey McDonough (Field Technician, 2020): Corey assisted with field work on the Laramie River for the WRP E. coli project.
Maddison Kopsa (UW Undergraduate, 2019-2020): Maddi did an undergraduate independent study project in the lab. She collected invertebrate samples and ecosystem data on Savery Creek, WY to understand how changes in flow influence invertebrate communities.
Dr. Charlotte Narr (Postdoc 2019): Charlotte was a postdoc with Sarah and Pavel Chernyavskiy (UW Math & Stats), working on developing non-stationary models to understand macroscale spatial patterns in water quality. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University.
Dr. Brady Kohler (2018-2019): Brady joined us as an honorary lab member for the 2018-2019 school year, including a Spring 2019 field season working on the Trinidad food webs project, while wrapping up his PhD with Bob Hall.
Colt Duncan (UW Undergraduate, 2023): Colt assisted with processing zooplankton samples during his senior year at UW and is off to join the Peace Corps in Tonga.
Taylor Skiles (Technician, 2022-2023): Taylor assisted with many lab and field tasks for Casey and Ashleigh's projects and is now wrangling fish in the Great Lakes with Michigan DNR.
Sam Sillen (MS, Fall 2022): Sam's MS thesis included two exciting papers that explored 1) long-term productivity dynamics in Mountain West reservoirs using remote sensing estimates of chlorophyll, and 2) a comparison of cyanobacterial biomass based on field samples from Wyoming reservoirs vs. remote sensing estimates from the CYaN data product. He moved on to a research analyst position with John Gardner's lab at the University of Pittsburgh.
Chance Roberts (MS, Fall 2022): Chance was co-advised by Willie Fetzer and conducted research on the food web of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, finding lots of variation in food web linkages across regions of the reservoir and seasons. His work was conducted in collaboration with several Wyoming Fish and Game biologists.
Kelsey Ruehling (MS, Summer 2022): Kelsey's excellent MS thesis incorporated ideas from water quality, freshwater ecology, and microbiology to evaluate sources of microbial pollution to streams in Wyoming. She is moving on to a position as a Natural Resource Analyst with Wyoming Department of Water Quality based in Sheridan.
Katie Bearden (Undergraduate 2020-2021, Technician 2022): Katie assisted with various projects in the lab as an undergraduate student and as a full-time technician after she graduated, including the STOICH project, HCB project, and others. We are super excited that she is moving on to an MS program at South Dakota State working on fish movement with Alison Coulter.
Karen Jorgenson (MS, Spring 2022): Karen completed an awesome MS thesis on alpine stream food webs in the Tetons, finding high amounts of flexibility in food web linkages across streams with different hydrologic sources. She is returning to Tamara Harms' lab at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to conduct research on watershed biogeochemistry.
Emma Román (Undergraduate, Summer 2021): Emma brought her excellent field and lab skills to help Kelsey sample and enumerate E. coli and extract lots of DNA in Teton County in Summer 2021. She continued this work as part of her senior thesis at Middlebury College and is now a lab technician at the California Academy of Sciences and Stanford University.
Macy Jacobson (UW Undergraduate, Summer 2021): Macy did an awesome job assisting Sam with Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom sampling in reservoirs across Wyoming in Summer 2021.
Jaide Phelps (Inaugural lab member/technician/lab manager/jack of all trades, 2018-2021): Jaide kept the lab running, helped with various field projects, prepped so many stable isotope samples that the isotope lab offered her a job, did lab work on the COVID wastewater project, and kept Sarah updated on the latest seasons of the Bachelor. She's also wrapping up a manuscript that demonstrates the utility of sulfur isotopes for understanding how stocked fish are incorporated into reservoir food webs. She is currently pursuing an MS in Marine Biology with Katrin Iken at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Lisa Harris (UW Undergraduate, 2021): Lisa assisted with a project about aquatic invertebrate gut microbiomes during the Spring 2021 semester.
Mikey Castillion (UW Undergraduate, 2020-2021): Mikey assisted with Karen's MS research in alpine streams in Grand Teton National Park. She graduated from UW in 2021 with a double major in Environmental System Science and Environment and Natural Resources with minors in geology, sustainability, and outdoor leadership and is currently working for NOLS.
Corey McDonough (Field Technician, 2020): Corey assisted with field work on the Laramie River for the WRP E. coli project.
Maddison Kopsa (UW Undergraduate, 2019-2020): Maddi did an undergraduate independent study project in the lab. She collected invertebrate samples and ecosystem data on Savery Creek, WY to understand how changes in flow influence invertebrate communities.
Dr. Charlotte Narr (Postdoc 2019): Charlotte was a postdoc with Sarah and Pavel Chernyavskiy (UW Math & Stats), working on developing non-stationary models to understand macroscale spatial patterns in water quality. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University.
Dr. Brady Kohler (2018-2019): Brady joined us as an honorary lab member for the 2018-2019 school year, including a Spring 2019 field season working on the Trinidad food webs project, while wrapping up his PhD with Bob Hall.