Lab Group Members
James Day
Principal Investigator
James is a geologist and geochemist interested in how planets reached their present-day states. He has been a professor at Scripps since 2010 and completed his PhD in 2004. James is happiest anywhere outdoors; the more wild, rugged and isolated, the better.
Yash Srivastava
Postdoctoral Researcher
Yash is a petrologist and planetary scientist keen to understand the formation and evolution of achondrites such as the Moon, Vesta, Ureilites, and Aubrites. He completed his PhD in 2024 where he worked on lunar meteorites to understand the formation and evolution of the Moon using meteorites sourced from un-sampled regions of the Moon. Beyond science, Yash loves cooking, hiking, and diving into sci-fi books for inspiration.
Brian Oller
Postdoctoral Researcher
Brian served in the U.S. Marines from 2000 - 2005. He earned his bachelor's of science in Earth Sciences from The University of California San Diego in 2015. He completed his PhD in 2024 where his research focused on the geochemistry of the mantle, ocean island basalts, and tectonic deformation and evolution of the California Continental Borderland.
Hunter Edwards
PhD Student
Hunter is studying samples from ocean island basalt (OIB) provinces in addition to martian meteorites to better understand the geochemical characteristics of mantle source reservoirs on Earth and Mars and their evolution with time. Hunter is an avid baseball fan, and also enjoys spending time outside hiking, kayaking, fishing, and camping
Aliyah "Ally" Stark
Master's Student
Ally's research focuses on the geochemical evolution of the recent eruptions on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula. She graduated from UC San Diego with a BS in Geosciences in 2023. As an undergrad, she studied carbonatites from the Canary Islands and continues to work this project. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends (whether that be taking hot chocolate breaks with lab mates, eating lots of food, or attempting to do pull-ups), being outdoors, and just relaxing at home.
Caitlin Lee
Master's Student
Caitlin is researching alternative models of lunar crust formation and determining their plausibility alongside current geochemical and petrological observations. She enjoys spending time with friends and family—SIGL included!
Julian Martinez
Master's Student
Julian earned his bachelor's of science in geosciences from UCSD in 2022. His main area of research concerns volcanic samples from the California Borderland. In the lab he is responsible for sample preparation, operating machinery, and sample imaging. When not in the lab, you might be able to find him camping.
Angela Lopez
Master's Student
Angela is studying the geochemistry of an impact ejecta layer from Scotland's Stac Fada Member. She earned her B.S in Geosciences in 2023 at UCSD and continued in the SIGL to complete her Master's. She loves spending time with family and friends, walking and hiking with her dog, going to concerts, and binge watching movies and shows!
Patrick Russo
Staff Research Associate
Patrick Russo worked for over 15 years, primarily in the service industry, before deciding to complete his higher education, eventually completing his bachelor’s degree in geosciences and master’s degree in earth sciences at UCSD. Now, Patrick works as SIGL’s LA-ICP-MS Specialist working on everything from coral to lunar Apollo samples, from mine tailings to Archean Cr-spinel. When not in the lab, Patrick is sharing his knowledge with students as an associate instructor at MiraCosta Community College. Otherwise, you can find him playing games with friends, taking care of his mother, and attending homebrew club events.
Rachel Hahn
Staff Research Associate
Rachel earned her bachelor's of science in geology from Indiana University Bloomington in 2019. In addition to research on Ocean Island Basalts, her responsibilities in the SIGL include maintaining the website, preparing samples for analysis, and routine maintenance of machines. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors with her husband, collecting rock and mineral specimens, and bird watching.
ALUMNI
PhD Students
2024 Brian Oller, PhD 'Observations and Insights into Source Heterogeneity, Mixing, and Tectonic Evolution of the Mantle from Osmium Isotopes and Highly Siderophile Elements'
2022 Eleanor "Carrie" McIntosh, PhD 'Insights into Primitive and Evolved Magmatism and Impactor Compositions on the Moon'
2018 Dr. Shi (Joyce) Sim, PhD (co-advised with D. Stegman) ‘Geodynamic models of ocean ridges’ [post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Institution for Science]
2016 Dr. Bradley Peters, PhD ‘Secular and recent trends in the geochemistry of the Réunion hotspot and other global hotspots’ [post-doctoral fellow at ETH Zurich]
2016 Dr. Jasmeet Dhaliwal, PhD ‘Geochemical Constraints for Mechanisms of Planetary Differentiation and Volatile Depletion’ [post-doctoral fellow at UC Santa Cruz]
Master’s Students
2024 Emily Rhoads, MS – 'Rhenium-Osmium and Oxygen Isotope Homogeneity During the 2022 Mauna Loa Eruption and Implications for Basaltic Magma Storage'
2023 Patrick Russo, MS – 'An ophiolitic source for Archean age detrital Jack Hills Cr-spinel inferred from Os isotopes and the highly siderophile elements'
2021 Taryn Linzmeyer, MS – ‘The relationship between diamondiferous kimberlite and peridotite from the Cullinan Pipe, South Africa’
2021 Ian Yuh, MS – ‘Ancient ocean mantle beneath the Cascades inferred from the highly siderophile elements’
2020 Ben Kumler, MS – ‘Laser ablation ICP-MS study of eucrite meteorites’
2018 Nicole Phelan, MS – ‘A survey of highly siderophile elements and incompatible trace elements in chondrites, and the implications for planetary feedstocks’
2018 Jacques Lyakov, MS – ‘A laser ablation ICP-MS study of high field strength element anomalies in ocean island basalts’
2018 Eric Snortum, MS – ‘The evolution of Western Pacific mantle lithosphere inferred from Aitutaki xenoliths’
2018 Jennifer Maria Benavides, MS – ‘A mantle source for epithermal gold mineralization in the Northern Nevada Rift’
2017 Diana Brown, MS – ‘Studies of Tonga Trench Peridotites’
2016 Kimberley Reed, MS – ‘Re-Os isotope study of Columbia River Continental Flood Basalts’
2015 Chris Corder, MS – ‘Primitive and differentiated achondrite meteorites and partial melting in the early Solar System’
2013 Jorge Perez, MS – ‘Origin of basalt-hosted epithermal gold-silver mineralization in the Fire Creek Deposit, Northern Nevada Rift from a whole-rock to grain-scale perspective’
2013 Caitlin Traver, MS – ‘A petrological and geochemical study of mantle and crustal xenoliths from Lanzarote, Canary Islands’
Visiting Scientists and Post-Docs
Robert Klimentidis, MS, Current Visiting Scientist
Dr. Richard Gaschnig, Associate Professor (University of Massachusetts Lowell), 2023
Yinzheng Lin, visiting PhD student (Chinese Academy of Science), 2022-2023
Dr. Anthony Gargano, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-2023
Dr. Robert 'Willie' Nicklas, Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2019-2022
Dr. Tim Jones, Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2020-2021
Ms. Rachel Hahn, Lab Assistant, 2019-2021
Lang Qin ,visiting PhD student (National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Science), 2019-2020
Dr. Marine Paquet, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, 2017-2020
Dr. Emily Pringle, Scripps Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2017-2019
Dr. Rachel Bernard, Presidents Post-Doctoral Fellow (senior mentor), 2018-2019
Mr. Ruan Hattingh, Lab Manager, 2017-2019
Dr. Lukas Ackerman, Fulbright Scholar (Czech Academy of Sciences), 2016
Dr. Kimberley Tait, Sabbatical (Royal Ontario Museum), 2014-2015
Dr. Christopher Waters, Scripps Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2011-2013
Undergraduate Researchers
Alexandra Bighouse (2023-2024)
Caitlin Lee (2023)
Bryce Elsner (2023)
Sadie Chavez (2023)
Satinder Singh (2023)
Emily Rhoads (2023)
Ally Stark (2023)
Leslie Ngo (2023)
Veronica Yonce (2022-2023)
Angela Lopez(2022-2023)
Savannah Kelly (2022-2023)
Patrick Russo (2022-2023)
Haider Rangwaller (2021-2022)
Kristen Lodel (2021-2022)
Karen Wu (2018-2020)
Ian Yuh (2020)
Evelyn Haynes (2019-2020)
Taryn Linzmayer (2019-2020)
Jeffery Hernandez (2018-2019)
Harpret Batther (2018)
Allison Kubo (2015-2017)
Brendon Mendenhall (2015-2017)
Caleb Strom (2015-2016)
Margaret Deng (2014-2016)
Cesar Meija (2014)
Garett Steward (2014)
Courtney Jiskoot (2013)
Kristina Olsen (2013)
Dean Poeppe (2013)
Alyssa Hedden (2012)
Bridget Guiza (2012-2013)
Demian Nelson (2012-2013)