{"id":303,"date":"2024-08-02T09:57:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T13:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.test.dev\/?page_id=303"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:59:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T14:59:38","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/people\/","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

People<\/h1>\n

Meet the Paleo-FISHES Lab community. Science is decidedly a team sport and none of this research happens without the amazing people who have been part of Team Ichthyoliths and Paleo-FISHES past and present.<\/p>\n[This People page is still under construction, waiting for confirmation from our Alums before listing them here – In the interim, please visit https:\/\/elizabethsibert.com\/people\/<\/a> for a full list of folks involved in PaleoFISHES Lab work]\n\t\t\t\t\"Elizabeth\n\t

Elizabeth Sibert<\/h3>\nAssistant Scientist
\nPaleo-FISHES PI
\n<\/em>\n

Dr. Elizabeth Sibert is broadly interested in understanding how marine ecosystems respond to global change. She is a leading expert in the field of ichthyolith micropaleontology, and loves to explore the stories that these microfossils can share about shark and fish evolution, community dynamics, and marine ecosystems in deep time. Elizabeth completed her Bachelors in Biology at UC San Diego (2011), and her MS (2013) and PhD (2016) in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows from 2016-2020, and a Hutchinson Fellow and Associate Research Scientist through the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies from 2020-2023. She moved to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as an Assistant Scientist in the Geology & Geophysics Department in 2023 and is thrilled to be supporting the Paleo-FISHES Lab research program. In her spare time, Elizabeth is a high level circus aerial artist and coach, fulfilling her childhood dreams of both becoming a marine biologist and<\/em> running away with the circus.<\/p>\nContact: esibert@whoi.edu<\/a>
\nElizabeth’s Website<\/a> | GitHub<\/a> | Google Scholar<\/a>
\nPronunciation guide: E-liz-a-beth Sigh-Burt<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t\"Alex\n\t

Alex Brown<\/h3>\n

ACES Postbac Fellow (2025-2026)<\/em><\/p>\nMy name is Alex K. Brown, a graduate of Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina with a BA in Biology. I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, but then I moved to the east coast. I am an aspiring marine biologist and\u00a0I am highly interested in researching\/monitoring sharks as well as their environments, but to understand sharks better you must understand their environment first.\n
\nI am in Woods Hole on a year-long fellowship for the Accelerating Climate and Environmental Science program. For my ACES Woods Hole research project, I am working with Dr. Elizabeth Sibert from the\u00a0Paleo-Fishes Lab<\/a>\u00a0at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. I am using this opportunity to look at core sediment samples from within a blue hole in Middle Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands. A blue hole is a large vertical marine tunnel that sinks below the ocean floor surface. Blue holes act as a geological time scale and create a unique environment for marine life that surrounds it. I will collect micro-fossils such as denticles and fish teeth from the sediment within the blue hole core samples, to analyze ways in how humans as well as environmental change has affected the shark community composition over the last 1500 years around Turks and Caicos Island.\n

Pronunciation guide: Al-ex Brown<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Jean\n\t

Jean Clemente<\/h3>\nPhD Student (MIT-WHOI Joint Program, 2023-present)
\n<\/em>\nJean Clemente is a Ph.D. student in the Massachusetts Institute of\u00a0Technology – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MIT-WHOI) Joint Program. His research interests cover the broad, interrelated histories of life and the environment on large spatial (i.e., global) and temporal (i..e, evolutionary) scales. His work\u00a0with Dr. Elizabeth Sibert will explore pelagic ecosystem responses to massive extents of ocean deoxygenation during Ocean Anoxic Event 2 (OAE-2) ~90 million years ago. His current work outside of the Paleo-FISHES lab similarly explores the role of seafloor oxygenation in spurring the Cambrian Explosion through the novel thallium\u00a0(Tl) isotope paleoredox proxy. If you can’t contact him, he’s probably in the midst of a Lego set or out eating\u00a0ramen.\nContact: jeanrc2@mit.edu<\/a>
\nPronunciation guide: \/zh\u00e4n\/ as in\u00a0GENre<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\"Amina\n\t

Amina Patterson<\/h3>\n

Research Assistant (2024-present)<\/em><\/p>\n

Amina is a research assistant working on the process of integrating existing skin patches and denticles into the database created by the Paleo-FISHES Lab. Amina graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Planetary Science (2021) and has been a research assistant at WHOI since 2021. In her free time, Amina likes to play video games and write.<\/p>\nContact: amina.patterson@whoi.edu<\/a>
\nPronunciation guide: uh-mee-naa paet\u00b7er\u00b7sun\n\t\t\t\t\"A\n\t

Leah Davis Rubin<\/h3>\n

PhD Student, SUNY-ESF, in residence @ WHOI for 2024-2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Leah Davis Rubin is a Ph.D. student at The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Dr. Joshua Drew’s Coupled Human and Organismal Systems lab and a visiting student in the Paleo-FISHES Lab. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, Leah is a dedicated human ecologist investigating the complex relationships between humans and marine environments through time. Her research utilizes dermal denticles from deep sea sediment cores and coral reefs, zooarchaeological remains, and oral histories to examine the impacts of tourism and colonization on fisheries and the role of subsistence fishing in food sovereignty and security. With experience in marine mammal stranding response, natural history collections management, and high school science education, Leah is also passionate about mentoring, working with undergraduates and high school students to foster curiosity, develop innovative projects, and explore historical perspectives. When Leah isn’t in the lab, you can probably find her somewhere in Maine, swimming, fishing, and ideally eating blueberries<\/p>\nContact:
\nPronunciation guide: Lee-uh Roo-bin\n\t\t\t\t\"Nicholas\n\t

Nicholas Wallis-Mauro<\/h3>\n

Research Assistant (2025-present); Former Undergrad Intern and Senior Thesis (2023-2024)<\/em><\/p>\nNick was a 2023 summer intern with Elizabeth at Yale University where he imaged extant shark denticle skin-patches, processed denticles, and analysed denticle morphometrics for use in a larger database. This work also served as his senior thesis.\u00a0He graduated\u00a0from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Marine Science and Zoology in 2024. Nick now works as a research technician at WHOI in the Paelo-FISHES lab.\u00a0 His work with the Paleo-FISHES lab involves imaging extant fish teeth for all taxonomic groups and analysing\u00a0tooth morphometrics. Nick seeks to answer questions about how tooth and denticle morphology relate to ecology and taxonomy. When he’s not working on denticles, Nick likes to read, play video games, and travel.\nEmail Nick<\/a>
\nPronunciation Guide: Nik-uh-luhs Wal-lihs Mow-ro\n\t\t\t\t\"Jingwen's\n\t

Jingwen Zhang<\/h3>\n

PhD Student (MIT-WHOI Joint Program, 2025-present)<\/em><\/p>\n

Jingwen studies how marine ecosystems responded to greenhouse climates during the Eocene by analyzing a variety of microfossils, including ostracodes and ichthyoliths. She received her BS (2021) and MPhil (2024) degrees from The University of Hong Kong. Outside of research, she enjoys horror films, detective fiction, and animation-especially Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>.<\/p>\nEmail Jingwen<\/a>
\nPronunciation Guide: Jing-wun\u00a0 zhahng\n\t

Affiliates<\/h1>\n

Team Ichthyoliths includes undergraduate and graduate students around the world joining the ichthyolith team for one or several of their thesis or dissertation chapters. These are our current affiliates.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Molly\n\t

Molly Gabler-Smith<\/h3>\n

Research Associate III (2024-present)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr. Molly Gabler-Smith is a functional morphologist interested in the tissues of marine vertebrates, including sharks. Her current research focuses on using modern flow visualization techniques to understand how fossil shark denticles might have functioned in the fluid environment. She uses a broad range of techniques (i.e., micro-CT scanning, microscopy, 3D printing, and particle image velocimetry) to measure the interaction of denticles and flow. In her spare time, Molly enjoys playing with her daughter and dog and reading thriller novels.<\/p>\nContact: molly.smith@whoi.edu <\/a>
\nPronunciation guide: Maa-lee Gay-bler Smith\n\t\t\t\t\"Arleth\n\t

Arleth Martinez<\/h3>\nUndergraduate Student, Berea College
\nPEP Summer Internship 2024
\n<\/em>\n

Hello, my name is Arleth Martinez! I am currently a second-semester junior at Berea College, majoring in Biology. During the summer of 2024, I was a PEP intern with Elizabeth, and my main focus in the lab was researching Modern Shark Denticles! I was looking into the evolution and diversity between a clade of Deep-Sea sharks, the Order of Squailformes, and wanted to see how different or similar they are between each other and compare them to other clades by using a shark phylogenetic tree. I also contributed to looking into the interconnection between Modern Shark Denticles and fossil Denticles using R coding and found some interesting results. More data is needed for this, and it is still an ongoing project to do more!<\/p>\nWebsite<\/a>
\nPronunciation Guide: Are-Let Mar-teen-ez\n\t\t\t\t\"Elizabeth\n\t

Elizabeth Pellegrini<\/h3>\nUndergraduate Student, Eckerd College
\nSummer Paleo-FISHES Intern 2024, Senior Thesis Student
\n<\/em>\n

Hi! My name is Elizabeth and was Dr.Sibert’s REU student this past summer. I am a rising junior at Eckerd College majoring in Marine Science with a minor in Environmental Studies. This past summer my project focused on exploring shark evolution during the Early Eocene Climate Optimum (EECO) using fossil dermal denticles from the South Pacific. I am continuing this project as a senior thesis with Dr. Sibert this fall, along with another set of samples from the middle of the Pacific gyre, with a continued focus on shark diversity and abundance during the EECO.<\/p>\nWebsite<\/a>
\nPronunciation Guide: ih-LIH-zuh-beth Pehl-leh-GREE-nee\n\t\t\t\t\"Headshot\n\t

Karinne Tennenbaum<\/h3>\nUndergraduate Student, Yale University (2022-present)
\n<\/em>\n

Karinne Tennenbaum is a senior at Yale University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology with a focus on Biodiversity and the Environment. She joined the lab in Fall 2022 as part of the First-Year Seminar: Collections of the Peabody Museum (EVST 040). Under the mentorship of Dr. Sibert, Karinne submitted a manuscript based on her class project, which investigates how tooth morphology can contribute to microfossil teeth classification and support the timing of Cyclothone evolution. Karinne’s diverse research interests in ichthyology, forest, and ornithology have taken her Chile’s Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve and Panama’s Barro Colorado Island. After Yale, she will pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Biology at the University of Oxford studying the genetic basis of avian partial migration. Beyond the lab, she is a member of the Yale Ballroom Dance Team and Yale Club Jump Rope, and enjoys reading books and playing pickleball.<\/p>\nWebsite<\/a>
\nPronunciation Guide: kuh-rin TEH-nen-bawm\n\t

Alumni<\/h1>\nOnce a part of Team Ichthyoliths, always a part of Team Icthyoliths. Below are links to some of the many students and researchers who have contributed to ichthyolith research.
\n“And they’re off… on the Greatest Adventure of Their Lives” —Dick Norris<\/a>, PhD Advisor to Elizabeth, and the true beginning of the Paleo-FISHES Lab.
\nPlease check out https:\/\/elizabethsibert.com\/people\/<\/a> for an expanded alum list while this page is under construction\n\t

WHOI Alumni (2024-)<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t

Yale (Sibert Group\/Hull Lab) Alumni (2019-2023)<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"scientist_female_icon\"\n\t

Alumni Name<\/h3>\nPhD Student: 2016 – 2020
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position(s)<\/p>\n

Current Website(s)<\/p>\n\t

Harvard (Sibert Group) Alumni (2016-2019)<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\"Headshot\n\t

Monica Marion<\/h3>\nResearch Assistant, 2017-2019
\n<\/em>\n

Current Position: Researcher and PhD Candidate in Folklore and Informatics, Indiana University<\/p>\n\t

UCSD (Norris Lab) Alumni (2011-2016)<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\"Jose\n\t

Jose Cuevas<\/h3>\nUndergrad Research Intern, 2014-2016
\n<\/em>\nCurrent Positions:
\n-Digital Community Manager (Museum of Science)
\n-Social Media Manager (STEMSEAS)\nLinkedin<\/a>
\nGoogle Scholar<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\"Lana\n\t

Lana Graves<\/h3>\nUndergrad Research Student, 2013-2014
\n<\/em>\nCurrent Position:
\nPhD candidate at the University of Tuebingen, Germany in the Environmental Systems Analysis research group of the Geoscience department\n

Academic Website<\/a><\/p>\n\t

Additional Team Ichthyoliths Alumni include (in alphabetical order):<\/p>\n\t

Past Mentors<\/h1>\n

Elizabeth and the Paleo-FISHES Lab and research program benefited immensely from support and training by some absolutely fantastic mentors. Thanks to these mentors for making science happen and nurturing this developing research program!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Dick\n\t

Richard Norris<\/h3>\nUndergraduate & PhD Advisor @ Scripps
\n2009-2016
\n<\/em>\n

Distinguished Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography<\/p>\n

Website<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Head\n\t

Andrew Knoll<\/h3>\nPostdoctoral Host @ Harvard
\n2016 – 2019
\n<\/em>\n

Professor Emeritus, Harvard University<\/p>\n

Website<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Head\n\t

George Lauder<\/h3>\nPostdoctoral Host @ Harvard
\n2016-2019
\n<\/em>\n

Professor, Harvard University<\/p>\n

Website<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Head\n\t

Pincelli Hull<\/h3>\nUndergraduate Mentor @ Scripps 2009-2011
\nPostdoctoral Host @ Yale
\n2019-2023
\n<\/em>\n

Associate Professor, Yale University<\/p>\n

Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People Meet the Paleo-FISHES Lab community. Science is decidedly a team sport and none of this research happens without the amazing people who have been part of Team Ichthyoliths and Paleo-FISHES past and present. [This People page is still under construction, waiting for confirmation from our Alums before listing them here – In the interim,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/303\/revisions\/864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/paleofishes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}