People of PRI

Katrina Cotten recently joined INHS as a terrestrial ecologist. She received her B.Sc. in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. During her undergrad and after graduation, she worked in the Human-Wildlife Interactions Lab, where she was first introduced to working with bats. She completed a summer research project examining predation risks at natural versus artificial roosts in southern Indiana. She also contributed to a literature review examining the temperature buffering capacity of tree microhabitats at a global scale.

We're pleased to welcome Anna Frailey to the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) as a field scientist/forest ecologist! Anna brings her passion for land management to this role, and we look forward to having her on our team!

Janice Enos, an avian biologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). Her research broadly focuses on how social interactions influence nesting ecology and habitat selection in songbirds. Janice has been an animal lover and interested in science for as long as she can remember, crediting David Attenborough and PBS documentaries like “NOVA” and “Nature” for sparking her interest in science, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society for convincing her to become an ornithologist!

Manisha Pant recently joined the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) as a macroinvertebrates coordinator with the Illinois River Biological Station (IRBS)’s long-term resource monitoring (LTRM) program. Manisha is looking forward to once again sampling and studying freshwater macroinvertebrates, and has always been interested in STEM fields since she was a kid. If you wonder if she's grossed out by looking at bugs all the time – her answer, emphatically, “No! Bugs are cool!” 

I grew up in the Northwest Chicago Suburbs and moved to Champaign in June of 2021 for work. I graduated from Illinois State University in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in English and a focus on publishing and I’ve worked a few jobs unrelated to my major since then. My role at PRI is as an environmental science writer for WaterOperator.org through the Water Survey and this is the first writing-based job I have had since graduating college so I am very excited about that!

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.

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. 

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.

Katie's doctoral research focused on understanding changes to Lake Michigan coastal wetland food webs using stable isotope analysis and otolith microchemistry. Her post-doc research expanded into the ecological impacts of an invasive aquatic plant (Elodea canadensis) in Alaskan freshwater ponds. Beyond her formal training as an aquatic ecologist, Katie is also passionate about understanding how scientists can more effectively communicate with different audiences.

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.

Miriam Schlessinger, an undergraduate at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville recently participated in the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), a 10-week hands-on summer internship at PRI that aims to enable undergraduate students from underrepresented populations to explore careers in applied science.

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.

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.

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.

Sarah Molinaro is a stream ecologist at the Stream Ecology Lab with the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). She's a former graduate student researcher with the Sport Fish Ecology Lab (SFEL) in 2019, focusing on tournament bowfishing harvest and the population dynamics of Shortnose Gar.

Rockford native, Cora Wessman began working as a graduate student hourly researcher with the Illinois Water Inventory Program (IWIP) nearly three years ago. Today, she oversees the program as the IWIP coordinator. "IWIP has become something I am very passionate about, and I hope to see the program grow for years to come," said Wessman.

Shruti Deekshitula is a graduate student researcher at the Illinois State Water Survey and an information science student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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).  

The 2022 Distinguished Research Specialist or Technician Award goes to Stephanie Wagner! Stephanie has worked as an environmental site assessor with the environmental assessment team at the Illinois State Geological Survey. Wagner and her environmental assessment colleagues help determine project costs, prioritize projects, and ensure the safety of workers, the public, and the environment.

Auriel Fournier, a waterfowl ecologist and director of the Forbes Biological Station, has been awarded a 2022 PRI Early Career Researcher Award. Fournier also leads the major National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-funded Firebird project focused on waterbirds in the Gulf of Mexico, which involves collaborators from multiple agencies and organizations.

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.

Jordyn Chace says she has always wanted to be a conservation biologist, even before she knew that it was a real career. Now she's a bat genomicist with the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Elizabeth Watts Malouchos recently answered some questions about her career in archaeology, commonly-held misconceptions about archaeology, and her advice for those just starting out in the field.

Postdoctoral researcher Nahal Hoghooghi is one of the newest members of the Illinois State Water Survey team! She will conduct watershed hydrological modeling and water supply planning studies across Illinois.

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.

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.