blog navigation

People of PRI
Prairie Research Institute

blog posts

  • Daniel in front of trees

    Daniel Raudabaugh, postdoctoral researcher

    Oct 12, 2020 9:00 am

  • Brandon Curry, head of the quaternary and engineering geology section

    May 19, 2020 10:00 am
  • Claire Johnson

    Claire Johnson, INHS graduate student researcher

    Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
  • Mike Smith standing and holding a camera.

    Mike Smith, Senior Architectural Archaeologist

    Feb 16, 2021 10:00 am
  • Woman with a hat on holding a large black and yellow turtle.

    Claire Dietrich, field ecologist

    Feb 29, 2024 2:00 pm

    Claire Dietrich recently joined the PACE Lab as a field ecologist.

  • John Gatto standing in water in waders

    John Gatto, aquatic postdoctoral researcher

    Feb 13, 2020 9:00 am
  • Mario Navarro, Lily Hearn, and Tahj Crofton sitting

    Lily Hearn, Tahj Cortes Crofton, and Mario Owens Navarro, 2022 Potter interns

    Sep 12, 2022 8:00 am

    Lily Hearn, Tahj Cortes Crofton, and Mario Owens Navarro have been working with PRI scientists on research tackling some of the most pressing environmental issues. This group of undergraduate students was part of the first cohort of the Illinois State Geological Survey's Paul Edwin Potter Internship Program. 

  • A man stands in front of a lake at sunset.

    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.

  • A woman holding a bird in her hand.

    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.

  • Josh Osborn, waterbird ecologist

    Nov 20, 2019 10:45 am
  • Natalie Kerr leans against a low wall wearing biking gear

    Natalie Kerr, visiting senior scientific specialist, environmental public health

    May 11, 2022 9:15 am

    Natalie Kerr started a full-time position at the Water Survey in January 2022. In her role as a environmental public health specialist, she is part of an expanded focus on the intersection between water resources and public health. She is working on two projects related to private wells—one looking at lead levels and the other investigating Legionella (the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease).  

  • Robbie Emmet. standing by a tree.

    Robbie Emmet, postdoctoral research associate

    Sep 13, 2021 8:00 am

    Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) postdoctoral research associate Robbie Emmet is looking forward to working with INHS researchers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) staff to answer management-relevant research questions and combine the multiple amazing data sets that IDNR has collected for decades.

  • Shaley Valentine, assistant research scientist

    Feb 22, 2024 9:00 am

    Shaley Valentine recently joined Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) as an Assistant Research Scientist at the Illinois River Biological Station! Prior to joining INHS, Shaley completed a PhD at Southern Illinois University. We sat down with Shaley to learn more about them, what they’re passionate about, and hear any advice they have for future scientists.

  • Stephanie Schmidt

    Stephanie Schmidt, INHS graduate student

    Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
  • Emily Struckhoff

    Emily Struckhoff, INHS graduate student researcher

    Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
  • Megan Cowan-Cranmer

    Megan Cowan-Cranmer, field biologist

    Sep 15, 2021 8:00 am

    Megan Cowan-Cranmer has been a field biologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey's Great Rivers Field Station for over 14 years, and is also this year's 2021 Confluence Conservation Leader awardee. Confluence Conservation Leader recipients work tirelessly to advocate, educate and inspire action in areas of environmental education, sustainability, and land conservation.

  • A man in a cave wearing a fluorescent vest and hard hat.

    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.

  • Liane Rosario

    Liane Rosario, 2022 Potter intern

    Aug 1, 2022 8:00 am

    Liane Rosario, a senior at the University of Illinois Chicago studying earth and environmental sciences is a 2022 Potter intern working on coastal research at the ISGS Lake Michigan office, gathering data using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in caves and on beaches, and measuring the depths of Lake Michigan via boat using bathymetry data.

  • Christ Miller smiling

    Chris Miller, Conservation Resource Specialist

    Apr 8, 2021 8:00 am

  • Health and Environmental Applications Laboratory

    Jan 11, 2021 3:15 pm
  • Megan Weeks

    Megan Weeks, human resources business analyst

    May 1, 2021 8:00 am
  • A woman wearing an orange shirt and with glasses giving the "peace" sign with her fingers.

    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.

  • A woman standing on a wilderness trails carrying a baby in a sling. Mountains and evergreen trees are in the distance.

    Gustava Curtin, graduate research assistant

    Feb 24, 2025 7:00 am

    Gustava Curtin is a graduate student in the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a research assistant at the Illinois State Water Survey.

  • drilling team on site using a drilling rig.

    Shop and drilling team

    Jun 21, 2021 8:00 am
  • Toby Holda

    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.

  • Hugo Ruellan, INHS graduate student

    Oct 22, 2019 9:00 am
  • A man kneeling over an excavation site, removing dirt with a trowel

    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

  • Shari Effert-Fanta

    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.

  • IRBS staff, alumni, and family members gathered at Riverfront Park to mark the field station's 50th year

    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. 

     

     

  • Sarah Gaulke standing in front of water holding a bird.

    Sarah Gaulke, INHS graduate student

    Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
  • Kylee Noel

    Kylee Noel, INHS graduate student

    Oct 24, 2019 9:00 am
  • Allan Jones

    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).

  • A woman wearing a pink scarf and gloves and black winter hat is standing on top of a mountain and giving the "peace" sign". Snow-covered mountains and evergreen treen can be seeing in the distance.

    Fatima Tuz Zafrin Tuli, geoscience data R&D scientist

    Nov 7, 2024 7:30 am

    Meet Fatima Tuz Zafrin Tuli, who goes by Tuli, is a geoscience data R&D scientist with the Illinois State Geological Survey. Her work at ISGS focuses on managing and advancing the use of scientific data—particularly GIS data—in research. 

  • 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.

  • David Zaya, plant ecologist

    Jun 11, 2020 4:30 pm
  • Emmarie Alexander

    Emmarie Alexander, undergraduate researcher

    Apr 19, 2021 8:00 am
  • Mike DeYoung poses for a photo at the awards ceremony.

    Mike DeYoung, 2024 Outstanding New Support Staff Award recipient

    Jun 5, 2024 11:30 am

    Project Manager Mike DeYoung is the recipient of the Prairie Research Institute’s 2024 Outstanding New Support Staff Award, which recognizes non-scientific support staff who have shown exceptional performance and outstanding service in their work and are making an impact on PRI.

  • Sara Wilson outdoors near trees.

    Sara Wilson, INHS graduate student

    Oct 26, 2020 8:00 am
  • Abby Pagels in the field

    Abby Pagels, acoustic coordinator for the Illinois Bat Conservation Program

    Mar 14, 2023 2:00 pm

  • 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.

     

  • Natalia Maass smiling

    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.

  • scientist smiling and holding up a freshwater mussel

    Hugo Ruellan, aquatic ecologist

    Mar 14, 2023 2:00 pm
  • Ahmani Browne sitting at a computer

    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.

  • 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! 

  • 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.

  • Sara P. Villazan Perez-Girones

    Sara Villazan Perez-Girones, visiting scientific specialist

    Feb 13, 2024 8:45 am

  • Sarah Manderbach, water safety researcher

    Oct 29, 2024 8:00 am

    Sarah Manderbach is a water safety researcher at the Illinois State Water Survey, where she conducts vital research on private wells. At PRI, Sarah is researching testing for Legionella in private wells in Illinois. 

  • A man riding a horse with one hand over his head holding a cowboy hat.

    Justin Remmers, postdoctoral researcher

    Mar 7, 2024 2:15 pm

    Justin Remmers recently joined INHS as a Postdoctoral Researcher.

  • A male in a blue jacket stands in front of the Sydney Opera House.

    Jake Vile, undergraduate researcher

    Jul 26, 2024 2:00 pm

    Jake Vile, a recent graduate from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences recently joined the Illinois State Water Survey, a division of the Prairie Research Institute. Jake's passion for weather began at a young age, and he plans to further his studies with a M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences at the University at Albany this fall. At PRI, he contributes to the MITTEN-CI project, focusing on collecting and analyzing meteorological data. Jake's dedication and enthusiasm, combined with his extensive global experience, make him a valuable asset to our team. We sat down with Jake to learn more about his experience and plans for the future.

  • Josh Smith, smiling in front of yellow autumn leaves.

    Josh Smith, economic geologist and affiliate researcher

    Dec 17, 2024 7:00 am

    Josh Smith is a research specialist with the University of Illinois' Department of Earth Science & Environmental Change and a research affiliate with the Critical Minerals group at the Illinois State Geological Survey.