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Jay Zambito
Jay Zambito
Associate Professor of Geology, Beloit College
Jay’s research focuses on identifying and characterizing climatically-induced extinctions (bioevents) recorded in the Paleozoic rock record using a combination of paleontology, geochemistry, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and fluid inclusion analysis. His related interests include taphonomy (the process of fossil preservation) and paleontological curation. His other major area of focus is the geochemistry and mineralogy of Cambrian-age frac sand deposits in Wisconsin in order to understand the potential environmental impacts of sand mining.
Cameron Harper
Cameron Harper
2025-present
Cameron joined the lab in the fall of 2025 to undertake a project using the image processing software ImageJ to develop a new method for determining grain size distribution from sand grain images.
Kaz Brooks
Kaz Brooks
2025-present
Kaz joined the Beloit Paleo Lab in the fall of 2025 and has been spearheading our re-investigation of the geologic provenance of Paleo-Indian artifiacts from Wisconsin, USA.
Maggie Lloyd
Maggie Lloyd
2025-present
Maggie joined the lab in the fall of 2025 and is currently geolocating and constructing a database of the Geology Department's global sand collection.
Ana Metz
Ana Metz
2025-present
Ana started in the Beloit Paleo Lab in fall of 2025 and has assisted on a variety of projects such as determining the geologic provenance of Paleo-Indian artifacts and recovering scolecodonts from Devonian strata from Michigan.
Drew Hanson
Drew Hanson
2025-present
Senior Thesis:
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Cambrian strata in the Weltzien Core, Western Wisconsin
Miles Geoffrion
Miles Geoffrion
2025-present
Senior Thesis:
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Cambrian strata in the Arcadia Core, Western Wisconsin
Simone de Montigny
Simone de Montigny
2025-present
Senior Thesis:
Investigating the Origin and Water Contamination Potential of Trace-Metal Bearing Sulfides and Oxides in the Cambrian St. Lawrence Formation, Western Wisconsin
Conference Abstracts:
Lilly McCully
Lilly McCully
2023-present
Lilly has worked on a variety of projects in the Beloit Paleo Lab, mostly focusing on microfossils and sample curation.
Projects:
Scolecodonts from Middle-Upper Devonian strata, northern Michigan Basin
Lia Dirks
Lia Dirks
2023-present
Lia is currently the lead student curatorial assistant on the paleontological collection at Beloit College. She was also a student leader on our recent Wisconsin Cambrian Keck Geology Consortium Project and is undertaking litho- and chemostratigraphic research on Cambrian strata.
Projects:
Current Status of the Paleontological Collection at Beloit College
&
Stratigraphy of the Cambrian Eau Claire Formation, Wisconsin
Conference Abstracts:
Kelsey Engelke
Kelsey Engelke
2023-2025
Kelsey started in the Beloit Paleo Lab as a student curatorial assistant on the paleontological collection at Beloit College. She continued in the lab while undertaking her senior thesis on Devonian sandstones.
Senior Thesis:
Chronostratigraphy of Late Devonian Sandstones from Southwestern Illinois and East-Central Missouri
Conference Abstracts:
Geneva Helland
Geneva Helland
2023-2024
Senior Thesis:
Investigating the Utility of Environmental Proxies for TOC and Natural Gamma Radiation in the Devonian Shale of the Illinois basin
Post-Beloit:
Geneva is working as an Environmental Specialist with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Isabel Johnson
Isabel Johnson
2021-2024
Isabel started in the Beloit Paleo Lab as a research assistant on the ACS PRF-funded Appalachian Basin black shale project and completed her senior thesis on Devonian strata from the Michigan Basin as part of a Keck Geology Consortium Project.
Senior Thesis:
Characterizing the Ellsworth Formation of the Michigan Basin using Litho- and Chemostratigraphy
Publications:
Johnson, I. and Zambito, J. (2024) Characterizing the sediment source of the Ellsworth Formation of the Michigan Basin using lithostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy, Keck Geology Consortium Short Contributions, v. 36, 6p., doi: 10.18277/AKRSG.2024.36.18
Conference Abstracts:
2024 NC-SC GSA Springfield, MO
Post-Beloit:
Isabel is currently a master's student at UT-Austin and the Bureau of Economic Geology.
Jack Collier
Jack Collier
2021-2024
Jack started in the Beloit Paleo Lab as a research assistant and and went on to complete his senior thesis with us.
Senior Thesis:
Determining the Origin of Paleo-Indian Artifacts from Wisconsin, USA
Gabe DuRussel
Gabe DuRussel
2021-2024
Gabe started in the Beloit Paleo Lab as a research assistant and went on to complete his senior thesis with us.
Senior Thesis:
Interpreting Geochemical Proxies in Illinois Basin Devonian Black Shale
Post-Beloit:
Gabe is an economic geologist with Metallogeny, Inc.
Olivia Farbarik
Olivia Farbarik
2019-2023
Olivia started in the Beloit Paleo Lab during her first year at Beloit College, and we were fortunate that she continued to work with us throughout her time at Beloit!
Senior Thesis:
Using the A-12 Drill Core (Bullitt County, KY) to Interpret Devonian Carbon Cycle Dynamics
Conference Abstracts:
Emma May
Emma May
2022-2023
Senior Thesis:
Beloit College La Brea Tar Pit Fossil Collection Taxonomy and Taphonomy: Insights into Predation
Post-Beloit:
Emma currently works in Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ on the wildland fire crew.
Daniel Bolin
Daniel Bolin
2022-2023
Senior Thesis:
Litho- and Chemostratigraphic Reconstruction of the New Albany Shale (SDH-273 core, Indianapolis, IN)
Post-Beloit:
Daniel is currently a Laboratory Technician with Pace Analytical.
Anna Weldon
Anna Weldon
2021-2023
Senior Thesis:
The Impact of Forest Evolution on the Organic Matter Composition of Illinois Basin Devonian Black Shale
Publications:
Zambito, J., García Muro, V., Rubinstein, C., and Weldon, A. (2025) Recognition of global carbon cycle perturbations in the Middle-Late Devonian New Albany Shale, south-central Indiana, U.S.A.: deciphering local versus global influences on δ13CTOC patterns, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 659: 112630, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112630
Conference Abstracts:
Post-Beloit:
Anna completed her MS at the University of Kansas with a her thesis focused on using carbon isotope chemostratigraphy to reconstruct Early Cretaceous paleoclimate recorded in the Kootenai Formation of Western Montana. She has a graduate certificate in Museum Studies and recently assisted the Milwaukee Public Museum with moving their zoological specimens.
Laura Hughson
Laura Hughson
2021-2022
Senior Thesis:
Local and Regional Patterns of Marine Black Shale Organic Matter in the Devonian Appalachian Basin
Conference Abstracts:
Morgan Fries
Morgan Fries
2020-2021
Senior Thesis:
The Reliability of Outcrops for Organic Geochemical Data: A Case Study Using Devonian Black Shales
Conference Abstracts:
Walker Weyland
Walker Weyland
2019-2021
Senior Thesis:
Determining the Direction of Early Trilobite Environmental Migration
Post-Beloit:
Walker is currently a doctoral student at Harvard University studying the evolutionary processes of the early Paleozoic. He previously completed a master's degree in the Droser PaleoEcology lab at the University of California, Riverside studying variability across the most mature ecosystems of the Ediacaran Period in the Ediacara Hills of South Australia.
Delaney McCarthy
Delaney McCarthy
2020-2021
Senior Thesis:
Devonian Organic Matter Variability within the Appalachian Basin
Conference Abstracts:
Post-Beloit:
Delaney is currently a GIS Technician at Invenergy.
Maddie Holicky
Maddie Holicky
2019-2021
Maddie joined the lab at the beginning of our ACS PRF-funded Appalachian Basin black shale project. She helped develop the methods we used and collected and analyzed some of the initial samples for the project.
Conference Abstracts:
Post-Beloit:
Maddie is a Project Geologist at TRC Companies.
Emily Clinkscales
Emily Clinkscales
2019-2021
Emily joined the lab at the beginning of our ACS PRF-funded Appalachian Basin black shale project. She helped develop the methods we used and collected and analyzed some of the initial samples for the project.
Conference Abstracts:
Post-Beloit:
Emily completed her MS degree in Geology at the University of Wyoming, studying the geochemistry of CO2-fluid-rock interactions. She is currently an environmental geochemist for the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
Andy Rich
Andy Rich
2019-2020
Senior Thesis:
Taphonomy and Biodiversity of Fish Fossils from the Middle Devonian Milwaukee Formation
Publications:
Rich, A. and Zambito, J. (2022) Insights from fossil fish taphonomy into the depositional environment of the lower Milwaukee Formation (Berthelet Member, latest Middle Devonian), PALAIOS, 37(1):1-15. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2021.040
Conference Abstracts:
Post-Beloit:
In 2023, Andy earned a MS degree in Paleontology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT); his thesis focused on mosasaur taphonomy in the Pierre Shale. He is currently working as a paleontologist at the Montana Dinosaur Center.
Zowie Fox
Zowie Fox
2019-2020
Senior Thesis:
Reconstructing the Cambrian Carbon Cycle Using ~500 million-year-old Phosphatic Brachiopods
Conference Abstracts:
Philippe Rollet
Philippe Rollet
2019-2020
Senior Thesis:
Constraining the Depositional Environment of Triassic Halite from the Röt Basin, Netherlands
Jennifer Pantelios
Jennifer Pantelios
2018-2019
Senior Thesis:
Implications of Cambrian sandstone phosphorus runoff on eutrophic waters, Dunn County, WI
Post-Beloit:
Jennifer worked as a Gardening Instructor at the nonprofit After School Matters where she developed hands-on apprenticeship programs for teens with a focus on sustainable and ecologically centered gardening activities. She is currently pursuing her passion for education as an Assistant Teacher at a Montessori School.
Christine Shonnard
Christine Shonnard
2018-2019
Senior Thesis:
Evaluating cycles in distal floodplain deposition within the Early Paleogene Hanna Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.
Publications:
2019 Shonnard et al., Keck Geology Consortium Short Contributions
Conference Abstracts:
2019 SC-NS-RM GSA Manhattan, KS
Post-Beloit:
After graduating from Beloit College, Christine worked as a Physical Scientist at the EPA. She then spent some time climbing volcanoes in Mexico, and is now working as an outdoor teacher in Chicago.
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