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Arts and Sciences

Lab Members

Current Members

Trenty Ford

Trenity is a PhD student expected to graduate in 2024. His focus is on foraminifera morphometrics and geochemistry.

Oghale Ononeme

Oghale, or OG, is a Ph.D. student set to graduate in 2025. His research uses modern and fossil foraminifera in past environmental reconstructions and in comparison with modern conditions and environmental reactions.

Debarpita Paul

Debarpita is the most recent PhD student addition to the lab! She is interested in how foraminifera are influenced by pollution and oxygen limitations. She will likely graduate in 2026.

Amanda Harding

Amanda is a new MS student who worked with me as an undergrad. She was an essential component to the creation and functioning of the VBM Microfossil Archive! In the collection there are an estimated 25,338 sediment packets of of residuals and at least 93,300 microfossil slides! Once online we hope this will be an AMAZIN teaching and research resource.

Jessica Whitesell

Jessica is an undergrad considering an accelerated masters at OSU or other micropaleo related masters projects. She is set to graduate in 2024. Her present projects involve OOI SEA3s, foraminifera SSUrDNA, and mutated foraminifera from the Puget Sound.

Joshua Deen

Josh is working on the most recent benthic foraminiferal extinction in samples collected during IODP 344 off Costa Rica.

Nic De Los Santos

Nic is working on foraminiferal ultrastructure with TEM, morphology with MicroCT, and geochemistry of the tests. He had the chance to go to sea in the Fall of 2023.

Unpictured Lab Members

There are several students in the lab who are not pictured here. They are doing wonderful work and we are happy to have them!

Students Without Photos

  1. Nicolas De Los Santos
  2. sydney Swisher
  3. Elizabeth Scrudder
  4. Aletha Bailey

Former Lab Members

Graduates of the Lab

Although we are sad to see them go, we are thrilled about their successes!

Lisa Lipscomb

Lisa is a Masters student set to graduate in the Spring of 2023 working on foraminifera with mutations in the Puget Sound.

Melissa Perkins

Melissa is being co-advised for her Masters by Dr. Burkett and Dr. Puckette. While an undergrad in Burkett's lab she worked on organizing and archiving materials form the 1980-90s from core materials.

Erin Roark

Erin completed her Masters Thesis in the Summer of 2022. She identified several different types of mutated foraminifera from the Puget Sound.

Joshua Anadu

Joshua is now at Caltech! While in the lab he worked a lot on foraminifera phylogenetics and is helping us publish a newly described genus and species of foraminifera.

Student Achievements!

  • Our Lab group did incredibly well at GSA Southcentral. Check out the winners of awards and what we presented here: Southcentral GSA 2023