People

Dr. Ethan G. Hyland (PI)

I grew up in a small town in Maine, where I spent most of my time in the outdoors. After finishing high school, I enrolled at Carleton College in Minnesota and received a BA in Geology with a thesis on Eocene-Oligocene magnetostratigraphy in Italy. I then worked for the National Park Service (Mt. Rainier) and as a backcountry ski guide before returning to graduate school at the University of Michigan for an MS in Paleobotany (biases in phytolith records), a certificate in Public Policy (Science and Technology), and a PhD in Paleoclimatology and Sedimentology (terrestrial paleoclimate of the early Eocene). I then spent 2 years as a “Future of Ice” postdoc at the University of Washington and time as a visiting scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory before coming to NC State to start the Paleo³ Research Group in 2017.

Dr. Katelyn Gray (Research Associate)

I grew up in Austin, TX, at a time when wildflowers far outnumbered people. College cemented my passion for geobiology and fieldwork, and I received a B.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Earth Science (double major) at Rice University in 2011. I received my PhD in Geochemistry at Yale University in 2018. I was a USDA-NIFA-AFRI postdoctoral fellow at the University of Delaware from 2019 to 2023 and a Blaustein Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University from 2023 to 2025. I joined the Paleo3 Research Group in 2025. I am a low-temperature stable isotope geochemist who studies biogeochemical processes and cycles. I have a vested interest in how climate change affects the biotic and abiotic aspects of the environment. I address unresolved questions about major environmental and climatic perturbations in Earth’s history. I also study modern biogeochemical processes because modern studies provide a necessary foundation for interpreting paleoenvironments, and proxies used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions may not always provide straightforward results. I focus on the phosphorus cycle because it is an important limiting nutrient that regulates primary productivity. I use the oxygen isotopic composition of orthophosphate (δ18Op) in water and sediment to discriminate phosphorus sources and transformation pathways. I use clumped isotopes ( Δ47) to determine temperature changes in the geologic past because a rise in global temperatures shifts the hydrological cycle, and hydrological cycle changes have important connotations for phosphorus cycling. See more at www.katelyngray.org

Current Graduate Students

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This could be you!

Started Fall 2026

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This could be you!

Started Fall 2026

Ana Venters (MSc)

I am originally from Lynchburg, Virginia. In May 2025, I got my Bachelors of Science at James Madison University, with a major in Geology and a minor in Chemistry. My undergrad research was focusing on stable Carbon isotopes in paleosols for climate reconstruction in the Miocene. Here at NC State University, I am continuing to research stable Carbon isotopes with dinosaur eggs from modern-day Utah in the Cretaceous, which can be found in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences!

Started Fall 2025

Current Undergraduate Students

** Contact us (ehyland@ncsu.edu) if you're interested in research experiences for undergraduates!

Charlotte Jones - Paleoclimate conditions in the Frassasi cave system in central Italy over the Holocene (NCSU, class of 2027).

Emily Heiges - Dietary and Environmental Information from Phytoliths in Dental Calculus of Dinosaurs During the mid-Cretaceous Revolution (NCSU, class of 2026).

Jenna Holt - Dust transport of phytoliths complicates assemblage interpretations (NCSU, class of 2026).

Laboratory alumni

Dr. Sabrina Lizzoli (Visiting Postdoc, 2025)

"Continental climate gradients and pedogenic processes during the Mid-Cretaceous greenhouse: A Southern Hemisphere transect from low- to high-paleolatitudes"

*Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at CONICET/UNLP

Iffat Azmi (PhD, 2025)

"Neogene Expansion of C4 Grasslands In South America: Interactions Between Climate, Ecology, and Tectonics"

*Currently a Geochemist at Haley-Aldrich

Adam Moore (MS, 2026)

"Observed extreme temporal, spatial, and seasonal paleoclimate shifts constrain dinosaur faunal turnover in 'Mid'-Cretaceous Utah, USA"

* Currently looking for PhD programs

Rebekah Rhodes (PhD, 2023)

"Evaluating Paleogene Climate of North America at a Range of Spatiotemporal Scales"

* Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis

Lillian Minnebo (Graduate Researcher, 2022-2023)

"Climatic conditions during the Last Interglacial Period in NC from bivalves"

*Currently a highschool science teacher in Holland, MI

Katie Berry (MSc, 2024)

"Using Phytoliths as a Proxy for North Carolina's Evolving Vegetation Dynamics throughout the Holocene to the Modern Day"

* Currently a Staff Scientist at NCDEQ

El Cardenal (MS, 2020)

"Exploring the effects of rapid land use changes on the Piedmont landscape using plant microfossils and legacy sediment"

*Currently a Geologist at AECOM

Ashly Padgett (MS, 2020)

"Terrestrial paleoclimate and geology during unusual climate states - Utilizing isotope geochemistry across Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands"

*Currently an Instructor at UW Continuum College

Dr. Landon Burgener (Postdoc, 2018 - 2021)

"Time of Transformation: integrating the dynamic geologic, climatic, and biotic systems of North America during the Early to Late Cretaceous transition"

* Currently an Assistant Professor at BYU

Evan Williams - undergraduate research student working on isotopic records of paleoclimate conditions in the Frassasi cave system in central Italy (NCSU, class of 2025).

Luke Jones - undergraduate research student working on expanding phytolith modern reference collections in the Southeastern US (NCSU, class of 2025). * Currently at NCGS

Jaydon Desaulniers - undergraduate research student working on expanding phytolith modern reference collections in the Southeastern US (NCSU, class of 2024).

Andrea Benz - undergraduate research student working on expanding Neogene paleoclimate databases for Koppen interpolation maps (NCSU, class of 2024).

Liz Baron - undergraduate research student working on organic carbon isotope records and chemostratigraphy from the Western Interior Basin (NCSU, class of 2022).

Edgar Lopez Roldan - undergraduate research student working on expanding Neogene paleoclimate databases for Koppen maps (UNCP, class of 2022).

Shadi Jabbour - undergraduate research student working on expanding Paleogene paleoclimate databases for Koppen maps (NCSU, class of 2022).

Emily Wichman - undergraduate research student working on expanding phytolith modern reference collections (NCSU, class of 2021).

Matthew Poovey - undergraduate research student working on expanding phytolith modern reference collections (NCSU, class of 2021).

Aidan Burdick - undergraduate research student who constructed regional phytolith modern reference collections (Carleton College, class of 2018). * Currently PhDc at Northwestern

Katia Lezine - undergraduate research student who examined phytoliths from Holocene sediments in the North Carolina Piedmont (UNC, class of 2019). * Currently PhDc at Brown

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