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. Sabrina Lizzoli (Postdoc)

I am originally from La Plata, Argentina, where I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Geology and my PhD in Natural Sciences at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), with a fellowship from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) at the Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG, UNLP-CONICET). My research focuses on paleosols as paleoclimate proxies to reconstruct past atmospheric and climatic conditions. I specialize in continental records from the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse world, using macro-, micro-, and nanomorphological, clay mineralogical, and bulk geochemical approaches. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at the CIG, and as part of this fellowship I am conducting a short-term research stay with the Paleo³ group at NC State, working with Dr. Ethan Hyland to expand this work through stable and clumped isotope methodologies.

Current Graduate Students

Iffat Azmi (PhDc)

Originally from Dhaka (Bangladesh), I recently completed my M.S. degree at Kansas State focusing on sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Proterozoic midcontinent rift basin. My interests revolve around sediments and geochemical applications to reconstructing the past, and my research involves proxy records for understanding the evolution of the South American Summer Monsoon and expansion of C4 grasses.

Started Summer 2020

Adam Moore (MSc)

Originally, I am from Kill Devil Hills, NC (OBX). I completed my Bachelor’s in Geology with Minors in Biological Sciences and Paleontology in 2023 at NC State where I worked on research involving Falcarius utahensis vertebrae. My overall interest lies in vertebrate paleontology (specifically dinosaurs), and my current research involves looking at the paleoclimate of Western North America during the ‘mid’-Cretaceous and the role climate might have played in dinosaur distributions.

Started Fall 2023

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!

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

Rebekah Rhodes (PhD, 2023)

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

* Currently Visiting Assistant Professor at UNC Wilmington

Lillian Minnebo (Graduate Researcher, 2022-2023)

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

*Currently 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 Staff Scientist, NCDEQ

El Cardenal (MS, 2020)

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

*Currently 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 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 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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