Lab Members

 

Lab Group Members in Action:

Phoebe Haverstick, CEE ’27 (Excel Researcher) | Phoebe joined Lafayette from central Pennsylvania and has always been intrigued by water resources engineering. Her project involves investigating the temperature of stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces across the Easton area. Phoebe has spent the summer installing small sensors in local stormwater drains to measure runoff temperature during major storms.

Grace Gazza, CEE ’26 (Excel Researcher, Independent Study) | Grace is a native Pennsylvanian who came south to Lafayette from the Poconos. After taking CE 352 (Hydrology), Grace tackled an independent study, presenting her work at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2025 on trends in flashiness in the northeastern US. To continue her work with water, Grace accepted a position at LaBella Associates.

Nicco Jacimovic, CEE ’24 (Excel Researcher, Independent Study, Honors Thesis) | Nicco came to Lafayette from San Francisco, CA. As an Excel Scholar, Nicco investigated how stream restoration structures may alter evapotranspiration (ie., the loss of water from the land surface to the atmosphere). In May 2024, Nicco successfully defended his honors thesis quantifying heat pulses in Atlanta, GA, USA. Nicco completed a MS degree in Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University and continues to work in data science.

Julianna Huba, GEO ’24 (Excel Researcher) | Julie hails from upstate New York. As an Excel Scholar, Julie applied her expertise to analyze the geospatial impacts of beaver dam analogues at our Red Canyon Creek, WY field site. She presented her research at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting and the Northeastern Section Meeting. Julie is currently pursuing her PhD at UMass Amherst.

John Rybnik, CEE ’23 (Clare Booth Luce Scholar, Honors Thesis) | As a Clare Booth Luce Ally Scholar and as part of his Honors Thesis, John researched the impacts of impervious surfaces and development on streamflow, with responses quantified as hydrologic signatures. You can check out John’s honors thesis here.  John completed his MS at Villanova University in 2025.

Haley Pursel, CEE ’23 (Excel Researcher, Independent Study) | Haley worked on two separate projects during her time at Lafayette, researching how form and function may be related for beaver dam analogues (a unique stream restoration structure being used at our field site in Lander, Wyoming), and an independent study focused on trend analysis of daily stream temperature datasets. Haley is in consulting with IMEG.

Lab Members from Lafayette College:

2026 – 2027

  • Phoebe Haverstick (CEE ’28) – Excel Scholar (Summer)

2025 – 2026

  • Grace Gazza (CEE ’26), Independent Study (Fall) and Excel Scholar (Spring) – first position post Lafayette: Junior Engineer at LaBella Associates
  • Jordan Sigal (CEE ‘ 26), Excel Scholar (Fall and Spring) – first position post Lafayette: graduate researcher (MS) at Villanova University
  • William Blair (CEE ’26), Excel Scholar (Spring) – first position post Lafayette: Staff Engineer at French and Parello Associates
  • Robbie Snyders (CEE ’26), Excel Scholar (Summer) – first position post Lafayette: consulting
  • Ashley McElroy (CEE ’27), Excel Scholar (Summer)

2024 – 2025

  • Sara Tippin (CEE ’25), Excel Scholar (Summer) – first position post Lafayette: Civil Engineering Analyst at Kimley-Horn
  • Dean Gennosa (IntE ’25), Excel Scholar (Summer) – first position post Lafayette: engineer at Roux Associates
  • William Blair (CEE ’26), Excel Scholar (Summer)
  • Samuel Jackson (Comp Sci ’27), Bergh Scholar (Summer)

2023 – 2024

  • Nicco Jacimovic (CEE ’24), Honors Thesis (link) – completed MS in Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University; first position post Lafayette: Quant Researcher at Susquehanna
  • Van Va (CEE ’24), Excel Scholar (Summer)
  • Socheata Huot (CEE ’25), Bergh Scholar (Summer)
  • Anna Rosenblum (CEE ’25), Bergh Scholar (Summer)

2022 – 2023

  • John Rybnik (CEE ’23), Clare Booth Luce Ally Scholar (Summer), Honors Thesis (link) – first position post Lafayette: MS at Villanova University 
  • Ani Khachadourian (CEE ’25), Independent Study (Spring) – first position post Lafayette: Fulbright Scholar
  • Rachel Hurley (IntE ’23), Excel Scholar, advised with Dave Brandes (Fall) – first position post Lafayette: graduate researcher (PhD) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Nicco Jacimovic (CEE ’24), EXCEL Scholar (Summer), Independent Study (Spring)
  • Haley Pursel (CEE ’23), Clare Booth Luce Scholar (Summer), Independent Study (Spring) – first position post Lafayette: engineer with IMEG

MS and PhD Lab Group Members from Syracuse University:

Jeff Wade (PhD), post PhD: JPL, Raytheon (link to Dissertation)

Ruta Basijokaite (PhD), post PhD: postdoc at Syracuse University (link to Dissertation)

Yngrid Pereira Marques (MS), post MS: Langan Engineering (link to MS Thesis)

Lucie Worthen (MS), post MS: Arcadis (link to MS Thesis)

Riley Sessanna (MS), post MS: McMahon and Mann Consulting (link to MS Thesis)

Sam Caldwell (MS), post MS: USGS (link to MS Thesis)

Karyn Ehmann (MS), post MS: CHA Consulting

Interested in Joining the Lab?

Students interested in pursuing research projects are always welcome to contact me at my email address to learn more about ongoing work in the lab.

I recognize that each student may have different interests, and therefore work with you to identify the types of experiences you hope to gain and the tools and expertise you’d like to build.  Research projects may involve:

  • Learning to code
  • Working with geospatial software
  • Outdoor field work
  • Synthesizing information across multiple research articles or publicly available databases

Be in touch if you are interested to learn more!