Dr. Ashley Helton, Principle Investigator
Ashley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment & the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Ashley earned her BS from the University of Cincinnati, and both her MS and PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia's Odum School of Ecology. Ashley is interested in hydrology, biogeochemistry, and how water and elemental cycles are linked across broad spatial scales.
Click here for Google Scholar.
Click here for CV.
Madeline Kollegger, PhD Candidate
Madeline's PhD research focuses on salt marsh restoration and biogeochemistry. Madeline is part of an EPA-funded project on coastal wetland restoration along the Connecticut coast.
Madeline received her BS from the University of Connecticut and her MS from Montclair State University where her research focused on how changes in sea level influence coastal deltaic systems. You can read more about Madeline's research on her website.
Lev Becker, PhD Student
Lev is a PhD student studying the biogeochemistry of beaver-created ecosystems on water quality and carbon cycling. He is especially interested in understanding aquatic biological processes that drive landscape-level carbon storage, as well as utilizing satellite remote sensing and community outreach to enrich his research with a variety of perspectives.
Lev graduated from Northeastern University in 2024 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary biology, where he completed an undergraduate thesis on marine genomic methodology at Ocean Genome Legacy, a non-profit biorepository affiliated with Northeastern University.
Lev is a PhD student studying the biogeochemistry of beaver-created ecosystems on water quality and carbon cycling. He is especially interested in understanding aquatic biological processes that drive landscape-level carbon storage, as well as utilizing satellite remote sensing and community outreach to enrich his research with a variety of perspectives.
Lev graduated from Northeastern University in 2024 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary biology, where he completed an undergraduate thesis on marine genomic methodology at Ocean Genome Legacy, a non-profit biorepository affiliated with Northeastern University.
Nicolette Nelson, Project Manager
Nicolette manages several projects focused on coastal marsh restoration (jointly with the Helton, Lawrence, and Elphick labs). She also assists with graduate student projects and data management and analysis.
Nicolette received her BS in Wildlife from Humboldt State University and her MS in Biology from Washington State University Vancouver, where her research was funded by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and focused on American bullfrog invasion in California
Rachel Biton, Research Associate
Rachel works as part of our coastal marsh research team, with a focus outcomes of sediment addition as a salt marsh restoration technique.
Rachel graduated from Eckerd College in 2020 with a B.S. in Marine Science and a minor in Environmental Studies. She recently earned her M.S. in Biological Science from Florida State University, where her research focused on mangrove range expansion in northern Florida
Rachel works as part of our coastal marsh research team, with a focus outcomes of sediment addition as a salt marsh restoration technique.
Rachel graduated from Eckerd College in 2020 with a B.S. in Marine Science and a minor in Environmental Studies. She recently earned her M.S. in Biological Science from Florida State University, where her research focused on mangrove range expansion in northern Florida
Gavin Bouslough, Honors undergraduate researcher
Gavin's research focuses on sediment phosphorus dynamics of beaver created ecosystems, and how beaver may change the way legacy phosphorus is stored on the landscape. Gavin is an Honor's student majoring in Environmental Science at UConn.
Congratulations to recent graduates!
Eric Moore, PhD (2024)
Eric's PhD research focused on river network-scale patterns of groundwater discharge of legacy nitrogen to streams. He was part of the NSF-funded Legacy Nitrogen project. Eric received his BS in Geology from Indiana University and was a Research Associate for Duke University's River Center, where he worked as part of the StreamPULSE project. You can read more about Eric's research on his website. Eric is currently an EPA ORISE postdoc working on legacy nitrogen dynamic in the Upper Missippi River watershed. 
Danielle Hare, PhD (2023)
Danielle's PhD research focused on how carbon cycling in streams responds to climate change, specifically increasing temperatures and how groundwater inputs influence stream temperature dynamics. You can read more about her research on her website. Before her PhD, she received her BS in Geology from Syracuse University and her MS in Geosciences from University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Danielle is currently a postdoc at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. 
Ariana Dionisio, MS (2023)
Ariana's thesis focused on how watershed land use legacies influence water quality. Before her MS, Ariana received her BS in Environmental Science from Western Washington University and worked as an analytical chemist for several years. She recently joined King County Department of Natural Resources in Washington State to continue working on water quality issues. |
Lab Alumni (Not Pictured) Postdocs
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