People

Dr. Elliott Arnold

Assistant Professor

Emily Mero

Master's Student

Emily is a graduate student researching the year-round atmospheric deposition of microplastics between an open-canopy site and a closed-canopy site. To do this, she deploys passive samplers and collects leaves to measure wet and dry deposition of microplastics which are analyzed on a biweekly schedule. Meteorological conditions such as precipitation, temperature, canopy coverage and wind gust are compared to see if these factors influence the rate of atmospheric microplastic deposition.

James Simpson

Master's Student

James is a graduate student researching microplastic enrichment in sediments throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. He is also an experienced organic geochemist who has isolated and extracted hundreds of samples for paleoclimate reconstructions at sites across the Neotropics.

Isabella Ashman

Post-baccalaureate Researcher

Ella worked in the Arnold Geochemistry Lab during her undergraduate career and continues her research into microplastic deposition as a post-baccalaureate. She was a co-author on a recently published paper in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment where she helped model the environmental variables most strongly correlated with microplastic deposition in freshwater stream systems. She is currently analyzing microplastic morphology via SEM and characterizing particles using FTIR.

Parker Lane

Undergraduate

Parker is a senior Geology major at WCUPA with a research focus on paleoclimatology. Their current project uses core sediments from cenote Xcach in the northern Yucatan Peninsula to investigate Maya population dynamics throughout the Classic – Post-Classic periods. Methods of analysis include extraction of bulk and biomarker proxies for environmental and population change. After graduating from WCU, they hope to continue paleoclimate research in graduate school.

Dillon Letherer

Undergraduate

Dillon is a senior geoscience student interested in biosphere-atmosphere interactions and the drivers of precipitation regimes across periods of global climate change. Collaborating with fellow lab members, he analyzed hydrogen isotope ratios in leaf wax biomarkers from lacustrine sediment cores, extending the Central American paleo-precipitation record into MIS 11. Following graduation, Dillon hopes to pursue a PhD studying how terrestrial ecosystems respond to hydroclimatic change and increasing atmospheric aridity.

Chloe Mattie

Undergraduate, 2023–2026

Kenny Sidhu

Undergraduate, 2023–2025

Lilah Rathman

Undergraduate, 2024–2025

Meagan Lipka

Undergraduate, 2023–2024

Sydney Costa

Undergraduate, 2022–2024

Michael Powell

Graduate Student, 2023–2025