LAB Members
sasha wagner
Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director - Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Associate Director - Center for Environmental Stable Isotope Analysis
My research interests encompass organic matter and black carbon biogeochemistry and how it pertains to carbon cycling in the Earth System with a focus on effects of wildfire and other disturbance events.
PhD Environmental Chemistry - Florida International University
BS Biochemistry - University of Delaware
Contact: wagnes3@rpi.edu
Curriculum Vitae updated October 2025
Madelyn Miller
PhD candidate
Maddy received her BS in Environmental Geochemical Science from SUNY New Paltz and joined our lab in 2022. Her research investigates the effect of recent, major wildfires on dissolved black carbon export from the Yukon River Delta in Alaska. Her efforts will help in predicting the effects of climate change on carbon cycling in vulnerable Arctic landscapes and will assist in answering broad research questions regarding the behavior of black carbon in intermediate reservoirs and fate of terrestrial organic matter in the coastal ocean.
Julia Hubbard
PhD candidate
Julia graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a BS in Geology and joined our lab in 2023. Her research focuses upon the formation and fate of graphite and black carbon in hydrothermal vent systems. As part of her work, Julia joined a 5-week research cruise to the East Pacific Rise and dove twice in the human-operated submersible, Alvin, to collect chimney rocks and other samples! Her research will answer fundamental questions about marine sources of ancient carbon that persists in the deep ocean.
Savanna GRIP
PhD student
Savanna earned her BS in Chemistry from the University of West Florida and joined our lab in 2025. Her research investigates environmentally persistent compounds in crude oil, specifically fractions that defy characterization and quantification by traditional methods. Her work focuses upon the source and fate of condensed aromatic carbon at a historic oil spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota and will inform our ability to track the influence and legacy of environmental petroleum contamination. Co-advised with Jake Shelley.
Alicia Dinovo
Undergraduate researcher
Alicia joined our lab in 2024 and is working towards her BS in Hydrogeology at RPI. Her research focuses on the Bemidji, Minnesota legacy oil spill site, where she is investigating the geochemistry of organic matter in contaminated soils, with emphasis on mineral weathering and hydrocarbon interactions in the vadose (spray) zone. Her work on the long-term geochemical impacts of petroleum contamination will inform remediation strategies at legacy oil spill sites.
TESSA Bossom
Undergraduate researcher
Tessa joined our lab in 2025 and is working towards her BS in Environmental Science at RPI. She is characterizing marine sediments that were collected near the ridge-axis along the East Pacific Rise. She has already identified different species of foraminifera and microparticulate graphite appears to be abundant. Her work will help us piece together the puzzle of how seafloor hydrothermal vents contribute to the persistence of ancient organic carbon in the deep ocean.
LAB ALUMNI
POSTDOCS
Alex Goranov; 2021 to 2022; now research scientist at ODU
GRaduate Students
Riley Barton, PhD; graduated 2025; now postdoc at OSU
Alex Collins, PhD; graduated 2025; now postdoc at Purdue
UnderGRaduate Researchers
Veronica Nowak; Summer 2024 - Spring 2025
Isabella Winston; Fall 2022 - Spring 2025
Nicole McDonald; Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
Ahlyia Leclerc; Spring 2022 - Spring 2024
Alex Bills; Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
Evelyn Pae; Spring 2020 - Spring 2023
Grace Josephs; Fall 2021 - Spring 2022
Harrison Todd; Fall 2021
