People

Current Gilbert Group Members

all of whom strive to understand biomineral-environment interactions in the present, the past, and or the future.

	M. Cristina Castillo Alvarez Benker Postdoc at LBL-Chemical Sciences Division, October 2022-Summer 2025. Her research focuses on the effect of growth rate and pH on coral skeleton isotopic and elemental composition. Email: MCBenker@lbl.gov
	Zoë Rechav Grad student in Physics, expected defense Fall 2026. Her research focuses on how corals form their skeletons with exponential crystallization. She joined the GG part-time Fall 2023-present. Email: rechav@wisc.edu
	Aiden Gustafson Grad student in Physics.
	Finn Kuusisto Staff scientist at CSI.
	Barat Q. Achnuq Project Scientist at ALS on PEEM-3 for 5 years, 2023-2028. 30% in Gilbert Group. BQAchinuq@lbl.gov

Previous Gilbert Group Members

	Connor A. Schmidt, Grad student in Chemistry at UW-Madison, focusing on synthetic CaCO3 crystallization and twinning. Started in the GG in Spring 2020 and defended in December 2025. Email: caschmidt6@wisc.edu
	Laurent S. Devriendt, Postdoc at LBL-Chemical Sciences Division for 2 years, September 2022-September 2024.
	Chang-Yu Sun, former UW graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering, PhD defense Oct 2023. Current position: from Fall 2024-present Chang-Yu is an Assistant Professor at National Cheng Kung University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Bravo Chang-Yu! Phone: 06-2757575 ext 62935 Email: 11308021@gs.ncku.edu.tw
	Cayla A. Stifler, Graduate student in Physics at UW-Madison for 5 years, focusing on crystal orientations in tooth enamel. PhD Defense Dec. 2022. Currently senior scientist at Middleton Spectral Vision.
	Emily Luffey, Grad student in Biophysics. In GG for ~ 1 semester.
	Jiaqi Li Post-doc at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2020-2021. Now assistant professor in CEE at the University of Michigan.
	Benjamin Harding UW graduate student in Biophysics. In GG for ~ 1 semester.Email: hbdharding@wisc.edu
	Jamie North. In GG for ~ 1 semester. Carleton CollegeEmail: northj@carleton.edu
	Jack H. Brau UW undergraduate student, majoring in Physics Phone: (615) 715-1267Email: ddebrauske@wisc.edu
	Drue Hood-McFadden UW undergraduate student, majoring in Physics Phone: (815) 742-2768Email: hoodmcfadden@wisc.edu
	Jun “Jay” Zhang UW Biohysics graduate student. In GG for ~ 1 semester. Phone: (309) 323-7093Email: jzhang833@wisc.edu
	Matthew J. Frazier UW undergraduate physics student. Phone: (262) 203-3009Email: mjfrazier@wisc.edu
	Annie Whisson UW undergraduate Materials Science student Phone: (708) 301-5005Email: whisson@wisc.edu
	Anthony J. Giuffre UW-Physics post-doc, stationed in Berkeley for ~ 2 years, now in Ohio
	Christopher E. Killian UW-Physics post-doc for ~4 years, now at UC-Berkeley, MCB. Phone: (510) 642-2927Email: ckillian@berkeley.edu
	Ross DeVol Grad student in Physics for ~ 3 years, now in Industry in Omaha, Nebraska
	Adam Z. Blonsky Undergrad Physics major, in GG for ~3 years, now graduate student in Physics at CU-Boulder
	Erin Monahan Now at UW-Milwaukee, Vet School
	Yutao Gong Grad student in Physics for 4 years, Ph.D. in Physics, 2013, Now staff scientist at FDA
	Ian C. Olson M.S. in Materials Science, 2013. Now at Epic
	Narayan P. Appathurai Staff scientist at SRC for ~3 years, now staff scientist at the Canadian Light Source
	Rebecca Metzler, Grad student in Physics for ~ 4 years, Defended in May 2010, now Full Professor of Physics at Colgate University
	Vasily Trubetskoy Undergrad at McAllister College, in GG for ~ 1 year, now graduate student at the University of Chicago
	Audra L. Amasino Undergrad at UW-Madison, in GG for ~ 2 years, now graduate student at MIT.
	Ronke Olabisi, post-doc in GG 2005-2006, now associate professor at UC Irvine. Email: ronke.olabisi@uci.edu
	Luca Perfetti, graduate student in GG 1997-99, now full professor at Ecole Polytechnique de Paris. Email: luca.perfetti@polytechnique.edu

Current Cnidarians

The Cnidarians are talented undergraduates that do massively parallel data processing
during and after beamtime experiments. Pupa received a mentoring award for her work with the Cnidarians.

	24. Samantha Anglemyer, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and Data Science. Expected graduation Spring 2026. A Cnidarian Fall 2022-present. Email: sanglemyer@wisc.edu
	38. Lateef O. Saheed, UW Madison Undergraduate Student, Biochemistry major, Expected Graduation in Spring 2026.  A Cnidarian Spring 2024-present. Email: saheed@wisc.edu
	44. Christian Waltenberg, an undergraduate at Harvard University, majoring in Earth and Planetary Science. He graduated at Harvard Spring 2025, but he continues to do research with us as a Research Intern. A Cnidarian Summer 2024-present. Email
	45. Johannes Domagk. UW-Madison visiting student, currently at the University of Bonn, Germany, expected graduation Spring 2028. Has been a Cnidarian Fall 2024-present. Email
	48. James “Luke” Schwenk. Biochemistry major at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He graduated at SMCM Spring 2025, and he is currently doing a Masters in Paleobiology at the University of Bristol, UK, but he continues to do research with us as a Research Intern. Has been a Cnidarian Spring 2025-present. Email: jlschwenk@smcm.edu
	49. Sylvia W. Lewis, Biology major at UW-Madison. Expected graduation Spring 2027. Has been a Cnidarian Spring 2025-present. Email: slewis27@wisc.edu
	50. Nicholas “Nico” Chou, Computer Science and Math major at UW-Madison. Expected graduation Spring 2027. Has been a Cnidarian Spring 2025-present. Email: nchou2@wisc.edu
	53. Emilio de la Cruz, has been a Cnidarian Fall 2025-present. Email: emdelacruz@wisc.edu
	54. Sufyan Siddiqui, has been a Cnidarian Fall 2025-present. Email: ssiddiqui22@wisc.edu
	56. Richard Kariuki, has been a Cnidarian Spring 2026-present. Email: rkariuki@wisc.edu

Previous Cnidarians

	55. Owen Hands, a Cnidarian Fall 2025. Email: owenhands007@gmail.com
	52. Natalie E. Beltz, Computer Science and Data Science major at UW-Madison. Expected graduation Spring 2026. Has been a Cnidarian Spring 2025-Fall 2025. Email: nbeltz@wisc.edu
	51. Brynne E. Dixon-Kruijf, undergrad at Bryn Mawr College. Cnidarian Spring 2025-Summer 2025. Email: bdixsonkru@brynmawr.edu
	47. Jianfeng (Jeff) Ye, a Cnidarian Fall 2024-present. UW-Madison undergraduate, majoring in Physics and Astrophysics, expected graduation in Fall 2024. Graduated Spring 2025. Has been a Cnidarian Fall 2024–Summer 2025. Email: jye82@wisc.edu
	46. Julia Sujecki. A Cnidarian Fall 2024 Email: jsujecki@wisc.edu
	43. Anders M. Larson. A Cnidarian Spring 2024-Fall 2025. Email: amlarson24@wisc.edu
	42. Serena Xiong, a Cnidarian Spring 2024 only. Email: sxiong74@wisc.edu
	41. Katie Krause. A Cnidarian Spring 2024-Summer 2024. Email: klkrause5@wisc.edu
	40. Meng Moua, a Cnidarian Spring 2024. Email: moua24@wisc.edu
	39. Rhita Rich. A Cnidarian Spring 2024-Summer 2025. Graduated Spring 2025. Email: rrich3@wisc.edu
	37. Connor L. Foust, UW-Madison undergrad majoring in Physics, Astrophysics, and Math. Graduated Spring 2024. A Cnidarian Spring 2022-Spring 2024. Email: clfoust@wisc.edu
	36. Madison R. Ludwig. A Cnidarian Fall 2023-Fall 2024. Email: mrludwig@wisc.edu
	35. Pooja P. Ponneboina. A Cnidarian Fall 2023 only. Email: pponneboina@wisc.edu
	34. Adrian Carmosino. A Cnidarian Fall 2023 only. Email: acarmosino@wisc.edu
	33. Mengtian Yang. A Cnidarian Fall 2023-Spring 2024. Email: myang379@wisc.edu
	32. Emily A. Devine. A Cnidarian Fall 2023 only. Email: edevine3@wisc.edu
	31. Christopher FAN. A Cnidarian Fall 2023 only. Email: rfan44@wisc.edu
	30. Hannah Mukana. A Cnidarian Fall 2023 only.
	29. Oliver Parmekar, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies. Graduated Spring 2024. A Cnidarian Summer 2023 only. Email: parmekar@wisc.edu
	28. Tarak Sristy, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Computer Science and Economics, expected graduation May 2026. A Cnidarian Fall 2022 only.
	27. Shreya Vattem, UW Madison Undergrad, majoring in Global health, expected graduation spring 2026. A Cnidarian Fall 2022 only.
	26. Jaiden Mezera, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Biochemistry and Neurobiology, expected graduation Spring 2026. A Cnidarian Fall 2022 only.
	25. Heidi A. Lulloff, a Cnidarian Fall 2022 only.
	23. Andrii Hopanchuk, Physics and Math double-major + a ComSci certificate. A Cnidarian Spring 2022-Spring 2024.
	22. Annie Purisch, UW-Madison undergrad majoring in physics, expected graduation Spring 2025. A Cnidarian Spring 2022-Summer 2024. Email: apurisch@wisc.edu
	21. Maddie Patton, UW-Madison Undergrad, majoring in biology. Graduated Spring 2024. A Cnidarian Spring 2022-Fall 2023. Email: mpatton4@wisc.edu.
	20. Shloka Mohanty, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in physics or chemistry, expected graduation Spring 2025. A Cnidarian Spring 2022-Summer 2022. Email: smohanty4@wisc.edu
	19. Isaac Koehler, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in physics and mathematics. Graduated Spring 2023. A Cnidarian Fall 2021-Spring 2023. Email: ikoehler@wisc.edu
	18. Jorge Rivera Colon, Bridge student in Chemistry, a Cnidarian Fall 2021-Fall 2022.
	17. Emily Luffey, a Cnidarian Summer 2021-Summer 2022. Email: luffey@wisc.edu
	16. Roberta Candela. A Cnidarian Summer 2021 only.
	15. Carolyn P. Breit, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in biology and zoology. Graduated Spring 2024. A Cnidarian Spring 2021-Spring 2024. Email: cbreit@wisc.edu
	14. Connor N. Klaus, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Biology and Chemistry. Graduated Fall 2022. A Cnidarian Spring 2021-Spring 2024. Email: cklaus2@wisc.edu
	13. Catherine Nguyen, a Cnidarian Fall 2020-Fall 2022.
	12. Bledat Gjinolli, a Cnidarian Fall 2020-Spring 2021. UW-Biology major
	11. Gabriela “Gabi” Barreiro Pujol, UW-Madison undergrad. A Cnidarian Fall 2020-Spring 2022.
	10. Max Xiong, a Cnidarian Fall 2020-Summer 2021.
	9. Benjamin I. Fordyce UW-Madison graduate 2020, GG Lab Manager and Lead Cnidarian. A Cnidarian Fall 2020-Summer 2021.
	8. Jaden Sengkhammee, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Physics, graduated Spring 2024. He continues to work with us! Was a Cnidarian from the beginning, Oct 2020-Fall 2025. Graduated Spring 2025. Email
	7. Virginia Quach, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Biochemistry with a certificate in Environmental studies. Graduated Spring 2023. Was a Cnidarian from the beginning, and continued even after she started grad school in Pharmacy! A Cnidarian Fall 2020-Spring 2024. Email: vquach2@wisc.edu
	6. Robert Murphy, a Cnidarian Fall 2020 only.
	5. Sydney Davison, a Cnidarian Fall 2020-Fall 2021.
	4. Evan J. Walch, UW-Madison undergrad sophomore, majoring in mechanical engineering. Graduated Spring 2024. Was a Cnidarian from the beginning, Oct 2020-Summer 2024. Email: ejwalch@wisc.edu
	3. Isabelle M. LeCloux, UW-Madison undergrad, majoring in Chemical Engineering. Graduated Spring 2024. A Cnidarian from the beginning, Fall 2020-Spring 2024. She also spent Summer 2023 with us at LBL and ALS. Email: ilecloux@wisc.edu
	2. Asiya Ahmed, a Cnidarian Fall 2020 only.
	1. Celeo Matute Diaz, a Cnidarian Fall 2020-Spring 2021.

Some Recent Collaborators

Sylvie Tambutte at Centre Scientifique de Monaco
Andrew H. Knoll at Harvard
Daniel Stolper, UC Berkeley
Kristin D. Bergmann at MIT
Tamara Alliston at UCSF
Markus J. Buehler at MIT
Elia Beniash at University of Pittsburgh
Tali Mass University of Haifa, Israel
Lia Addadi at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Steve Weiner at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Fred Wilt at UC-Berkeley
Susan N. Coppersmith at UW-Madison
Jillian F. Banfield at UC-Berkeley
Robert W. Carpick at UPenn
Kenneth H. Nealson at University of Southern California
John W. Valley at UW-Madison
Judd M. Aiken and Debbie McKenzie, UW-Madison
Daniel Ariosa at the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Giorgio Margaritondo at the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Tiziana Parasassi at the Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
Roberto Pallini, Catholic University of Rome, Italy
Delio Mercanti and M. Teresa Ciotti at the Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy