blog posts

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  Jim Pisell, staff archaeologist

  Oct 4, 2021 12:15 pm

  Jim Pisell has been with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey for nearly 20 years, and while technology has changed the face and pace of what archaeology looks like today, at its core Jim believes it's deeper than artifacts—it is a type of informed storytelling. 

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  Rob Mooney, assistant research scientist

  Jul 19, 2024 11:30 am

  Rob Mooney recently joined INHS as an assistant research scientist. His research interests span a range of aquatic science topics, from invertebrate behavior to ecosystem-scale stressors to fisheries management.

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  Lauren Fitts, research archaeologist

  Feb 28, 2022 8:00 am

  Meet Lauren Fitts, Research Archaeologist with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). Initially drawn to archaeology because of Jurassic Park, she now leads archaeological surveys in advance of Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) related projects.

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  Health and Environmental Applications Laboratory

  Jan 11, 2021 3:15 pm
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  Chris Miller, Conservation Resource Specialist

  Apr 8, 2021 8:00 am
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  Sebastiano Giardinella, project engineer

  Mar 2, 2022 8:00 am

  Meet Sebastiano Giardinella, a project engineer with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Survey (ISTC). Sebastiano joined ISTC in 2021 and is responsible for coordinating and assisting researchers with ongoing projects and proposals, primarily related to Department of Energy (DOE)-funded research. 

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  Susan McIntyre: Wetland Plant Ecologist

  Mar 21, 2018 12:00 pm
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  Megan Weeks, human resources business analyst

  May 1, 2021 8:00 am
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  Zach Samaras, technical assistance engineer, sustainability

  Aug 17, 2021 11:30 am

  Zach Samaras left a career in the print and promotional industry and now promotes waste reduction and resource conservation as a technical assistance and sustainability engineer with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

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  Nicholas Iacaruso, graduate researcher

  Jan 26, 2022 8:00 am

  Nicholas Iacaruso is a graduate student at the Illinois Natural History Survey in the Collaborative Ecological Genetics Laboratory (CEGL) working under Mark Davis, focusing on monitoring freshwater fish populations using environmental DNA (eDNA). Iacaruso grew up near Chesapeake Bay, which inspired his interests in aquatic ecosystems before he learned about ecological genetics, and later, about environmental DNA, or eDNA.

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  Vanessa DeShambo, environmental engineer

  Jul 19, 2022 8:00 am

  Vanessa joined the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) in December 2021 as an environmental engineer. Prior to joining the ISTC team, she worked at the U of I College of Veterinary Medicine performing case work and research related to veterinary infectious disease with a primary focus on micro and molecular biology. She also spent her early career with the Allen Institute for Brain Science managing research on mouse genetics and neuroscience. Her research is currently focused on improvement of algal systems for wastewater treatment. Projects topics include hydrothermal liquifaction, nanofiltration, algal toxin destruction, bioaugmentation, and endoreduplication.

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  Shop and drilling team

  Jun 21, 2021 8:00 am
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  Angela DiAscro, field chemist

  Jul 28, 2020 8:00 am
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  Alison Stodola: Aquatic Biologist

  Mar 15, 2017 12:00 pm
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  Toby Holda, large river fisheries ecologist

  May 2, 2022 8:00 am

  Toby Holda joined INHS on April 25th as a large river fisheries ecologist. Holda worked at INHS during his undergraduate career and looks forward to sampling fish in the field, especially the long toothy fishes (gars, bowfin, etc.). He's also looking forward to continuing working with the folks at the Illinois River Biological Station and to the opportunity to continue developing his research skills.

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  Hugo Ruellan, INHS graduate student

  Oct 22, 2019 9:00 am
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  Shari Effert-Fanta, assistant director for facilities and safety

  Apr 15, 2022 8:00 am

  Shari Effert-Fanta, PRI’s assistant director for facilities & safety, is the recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Support Staff Award! Effert-Fanta oversees PRI’s many facilities, both on campus and across the state, as well as the safety of PRI staff and students as they work in the field and in the lab; her work impacts everyone at PRI.

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  Sarah Gaulke, INHS graduate student

  Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
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  Illinois River Biological Station marks 50th anniversary

  Aug 12, 2022 8:30 am

  On July 23, the Illinois Natural History Survey's Illinois River Biological Station (IRBS) celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reunion at Riverfront Park in Havana, Illinois. IRBS has grown to a staff of more than 50 people, including PhD. scientists, post-doctoral research associates, large river ecologists, aquatic field technicians, and many graduate students. More than 300 scientists have been part of IRBS since its founding in 1972. 

   

   

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  Kylee Noel, INHS graduate student

  Oct 24, 2019 9:00 am
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  Sara Sawicki, water quality specialist

  Aug 25, 2022 8:00 am

  Sara Sawicki joined INHS on August 16th as a water quality specialist with the Illinois River Biological Station (IRBS) long-term resource monitoring program. She earned her bachelor's degree in environmental science from Dominican University and her Master’s degree in environmental science from Alaska Pacific University, where she performed water sampling and analysis work for a USGS project involving a glacier and its watershed. 

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  Hannah Grushon, research assistant

  Oct 31, 2024 8:00 am

  Hannah Grushon is a first-year Master's student at the University of Illinois in the Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences program and a graduate research assistant with the  Illinois Natural History Survey. Her passion for conservation drives her research, which aims to identify effective management strategies to support these critical ecosystems.

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  Seth Allgeier, curation specialist

  Sep 10, 2024 2:15 pm

  Seth Allgeier recently joined the Illinois State Archaeological Survey as a curation specialist. At PRI, Seth is leveraging his fieldwork experience to assess, organize, and digitize Illinois Department of Transportation site documents

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  Sam Schaick, large river fisheries ecologist

  May 31, 2019 9:15 am
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  Katey Strailey, postdoctoral researcher

  Oct 10, 2022 11:00 am

  I’m really excited to get to do applied research. For me, it’s the best of both worlds–I get to do work that is both scientifically engaging and valuable for conservation. Conservation and management of our aquatic resources are really important to me, and I want to make sure that whatever I do for work is supporting those resources.

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  Allan E. Jones, hydrologist

  Apr 27, 2023 3:15 pm

  Allan E. Jones, a recently promoted assistant research scientist in hydrology, has received the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) 2023 Early Career Investigator Award for his excellence in research and leadership and his impact on the development of the groundwater flow model at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS).

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  David Zaya, plant ecologist

  Jun 11, 2020 4:30 pm
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  Srirupa Ganguly: Process Development Engineer

  Mar 27, 2017 2:15 pm
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  Tara Beveroth: Ornithologist

  Jun 14, 2017 4:00 pm
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  Reilly Durham, visiting scientific specialist

  Feb 26, 2024 10:00 am

  Introducing Reilly Durham, who recently joined the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) at the Prairie Research Institute. Their role focuses on algal-bacterial bioaugmentation, aiming to revolutionize wastewater treatment and biofuel production.

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  Jim Lamer: large river ecologist

  Mar 25, 2019 2:30 pm
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  Emmarie Alexander, undergraduate researcher

  Apr 19, 2021 8:00 am
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  Sara Wilson, INHS graduate student

  Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
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  Ahmani Browne, 2022 PRI SROP intern

  Jul 26, 2022 8:00 am

  Ahmani Browne, a senior studying marine biology at Mitchell College, is working with Liang Chen, a research climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), studying the risks of winter severity in the Midwest due to climate change. Browne and Chen are using state-of-the-art climate models to quantify past and future winter storms, and investigate strong-wind and heavy snowfall events using climate simulations. Browne recently answered some questions about his internship experience.

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  Abby Pagels, acoustic coordinator for the Illinois Bat Conservation Program

  Mar 14, 2023 2:00 pm
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  Patrick Green, Central Illinois Field Station (CIFS) coordinator

  Mar 21, 2022 8:00 am

  If there's construction planned in your area, one of the first people you may see on the scene is Patrick Green, the Central Illinois Field Station coordinator at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). As an Illinois native, Patrick knows the Illinois landscape quite well and is a wealth of knowledge about the history and archaeological sites all around Illinois and the United States! He recently answered some questions about his work, career advice, and why you don't have to travel to Egypt or the Yucatan (unless you want to!) to learn about fascinating ancient history – it's all around you!

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  Undergraduate Research Symposium

  Apr 22, 2022 11:15 am

  Congratulations to all of the undergraduate students presenting at the Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 28 and the PRI scientists who mentored them! 

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  Natalia Maass, endangered species specialist

  Sep 1, 2021 8:00 am

  Meet Natalia Maass, an endangered species specialist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. While Maass continues to tackle challenging programming languages, she stresses that having an advanced degree isn't a qualifier for being a “real” scientist. People can do meaningful work in science as citizen scientists, too.

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  Hugo Ruellan, aquatic ecologist

  Mar 14, 2023 2:00 pm
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  Lee Green, chemist

  Aug 3, 2022 8:00 am

  Lee Green is a chemist in the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center’s Applied Research on Industrial and Environmental Systems (ARIES) group. She studies persistent contaminants, specializing in microplastics and PFAS. Scientists are just beginning to discover the impacts that these contaminants have on the human body and the environment.

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  Steve Wilson, groundwater hydrologist

  Apr 14, 2022 8:00 am

  The 2022 Research Scientist’s Career Achievement Award goes to Steve Wilson. Steve began his career at the Water Survey more than 30 years ago, as an undergraduate student hourly. Now as a groundwater hydrologist, Steve leads two programs that have significant nationwide impact on the safety of drinking water: The Private Well Class, which provides self-paced online training for private well owners and professionals who support them, and WaterOperator.org, a user-friendly online resource hub for water and wastewater operators that is geared towards supporting small systems.

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  Stefan Ilic, visiting scientific specialist

  Sep 3, 2024 7:00 am

  We sat down with Stefan Ilic, a new visiting scientific specialist on the GIS team at the Illinois State Geological Survey. In this interview, Stefan shares insights into his journey to becoming a GIS specialist, his passion for geography and cartography, and the tools he relies on for his work.

   

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  Alexander Rushing, historic mining specialist

  Oct 30, 2024 8:00 am

  Meet Alexander Rushing, who usually goes by Sasha, a Visiting Scientific Specialist in Historic Mining & Geology at the Illinois State Geological Survey. At PRI, he is apart of the Abandoned Mine Lands and Mined Out Areas projects team.

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  Sarah Douglass: Mussel Field Biologist

  May 2, 2017 4:15 pm
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  Hannah Anderson, environmental data specialist

  Dec 19, 2024 7:00 am

  Hannah Anderson joined the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), a division of the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) as an environmental data specialist. In this role, she’s embedded in the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) Central Office in Springfield, Illinois.

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  Sara Villazan Perez-Girones, visiting scientific specialist

  Feb 13, 2024 8:45 am
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  Anne Krippenstapel, field scientist

  Aug 8, 2022 8:00 am

  Anne Krippenstapel recently joined the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) as a field scientist. She earned her bachelor's degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and worked as a forestry tech, running a chainsaw, treating invasive plants, and doing timber stand improvement.

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  Justin Remmers, postdoctoral researcher

  Mar 7, 2024 2:15 pm

  Justin Remmers recently joined INHS as a Postdoctoral Researcher.

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  Dana Brown, vector biologist

  Jul 21, 2022 3:30 pm

  Dana Brown recently joined the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) as a vector biologist. Prior to joining INHS, Dana spent four years assisting with microbiological research in laboratories focused on virology, immunology, and cancer biology.

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  Payton Ohler, summer research intern

  Aug 14, 2024 1:30 pm

  Payton Ohler recently completed her summer internship working with Sherilyn Williams-Stroud at the Illinois State Geological Survey. As a participant in the Graduate College’s Summer Research Opportunities Program, she focused on the social and technological implications of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects.