People

List of current laboratory group members
	*Christopher Hein* is a professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs at VIMS. He received a B.S. from the Cornell University in 2003 and Ph.D. from Boston University in 2012. Chris works on aspects of coastal change ranging from the impacts of sea-level rise and past climate changes, to beach and dune management. He applies the tools of sedimentology and organic chemistry to investigate the link between sediment-supply driven coastal evolution and past climatic variability in coastal settings including barrier islands, marshes, beach- and foredune ridge systems, and coastal dunes, with a goal of using this link to forecast future responses to regionally-specific climate changes.
	Mary Bryan Barksdale (PhD Candidate; BA, Bowdoin College; MAT, University of Mississippi) holds a bachelor’s degree in Earth and Oceanographic Science and Gender and Women’s Studies as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching. Mary Bryan’s interest in the formation & evolution of coastal systems is rooted in her fascination with the effects of changes in climate and water level across scales: from the molecular to the landscape-wide. After thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and teaching high school science for three years in a critical-needs school in her home state of Mississippi, Mary Bryan is focusing her love of environmental geomorphology and geochemistry on the effect of salt marsh erosion on sediment and carbon accumulation rates within and across ecosystems. She is co-advised by Matt Kirwan.
	Elizabeth Davis (PhD Candidate; BA, West Virginia U., 2016; MSc, U. Delaware, 2020; VIMS PhD Student) earned a bachelor's degree in Environmental Geoscience and master's degree in Geological Sciences. Liz's master's research was focused on improving mapping and stratigraphic analysis of the surface sands along the eastern shore of the Delmarva Peninsula. She is now working with collaborators from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center and Virginia Commonwealth University to quantify the tradeoffs between natural and artificial sand dunes along the North Carolina Outer Banks. Liz is also interested in leveraging coastal research to help guide local government in making more informed policy decisions regarding coastal management. Be sure to check our her personal website here!
	Katherine Kivimaki (W&M BA, 2024) graduated from William & Mary in 2024 with dual degrees in Public Policy and Environment & Sustainability. As an undergraduate, she contributed to research projects ranging from the Eastern Shore to the Arctic and gained experience as a lab technician. Having now returned as a graduate student in 2025, Katherine is continuing pursuing long-term research goals. Details TBD, so check back!
	Matt McCormick (PhD Student; AS, Red Rocks Community College; BS, Fort Lewis College; MSc, Florida Atlantic U., 2024) holds a bachelor's degree in Geology with a GIS Certificate and a Masters in Geoscience. Despite spending most of his life in the mountains of Colorado, Matt's love for the coast led him to complete a master's thesis focused on the morphologic impacts of Hurricane Ian within southwest Florida. This project allowed Matt to develop a passion for coastal processes and sediment budgets along barrier island settings, making him excited to study the sediment dynamics off of the Virginia barrier islands throughout his PhD.
	Allyson Boggess (BS, JMU, 2017) is the Laboratory Manager for the Coastal Geology Lab. She works behind the scenes to support CGL's lab and field activities, and runs the Sedimentology & Gamma Lab Cost Center. After earning her bachelor's degree in Geology from James Madison University, she participated in the NAGT/USGS Cooperative Summer Fellowship Program and later worked as a geologist at the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center. She started at VIMS as the Lab Manager in May 2024.
	Travis Cornbau is a senior at William & Mary, majoring in biology with a minor in marine science. He is currently assisting with various projects across the coastal geology lab with hopes of diversifying his future career options.
	Addison Greenfeld is a senior at William & Mary, pursuing majors in Geology and ENSP. He is working to collect and process samples in support of multiple projects in the coastal geology lab.
	*Abby Hunter* is a senior at William & Mary pursuing a degree in Geology and Environmental Science. She is currently conducting research for her senior thesis, focusing on the impacts of dredging in river channels around the Northern Neck Peninsula of Chesapeake Bay.
	*Bruno Iannotti* is a senior at William & Mary, double majoring in Finance and Geology. He is currently conducting his thesis research with the Coastal Geology Laboratory, focusing on deep-sea mineral resources and the economic and environmental lifecycle of deep-sea mining projects.
	*Maya Littman* is a junior at William & Mary pursuing a degree in Geology & Environmental Policy. She is helping with the Wallops Island Project and hopes to study coastal geology for her senior research.
	*Alex Stevenson* is a junior at William & Mary, majoring in Geology with an environmental concentration. They are currently assisting with various projects in the Coastal Geology Lab, and plans to conduct senior Geology research with the lab.

Lab Associates

List of current associate lab members
	Michelle Harris was a Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Coastal Geology Lab at VIMS from 2024–2025. She has earned her degrees in Geography with an emphasis on coastal processes, management, and remote sensing/GIS. She was a 2020 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow where she was stationed within the NOAA National Ocean Service as a member of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Program Office. Michelle's doctoral research focused on managed mesoscale coastal dune systems in South Carolina using an integrated approach of field-based, remote sensing, and qualitative research. Michelle is now an Assistant Professor at Moreno Valley College, CA.
	Emily Hein (BA, Boston U., 2009; MSc, MIT-WHOI, 2011) is a coastal geologist by training, and keeps her foot in the research door through occasional collaboration with our lab. She is the Assistant Director for Advisory Service in the VIMS Office of Research and Advisory Services, where she responds to inquiries and requests from local, state, regional, and federal policy makers and regulators and provide marine science-based information and advice.

Lab Alumni - Graduate Students

List of graduate student alumni
	Kayla Cahoon (VIMS PhD, 2025) is a W&M graduate in Geology, where she completed an honors thesis studying impacts of land-use change on lacustrine sedimentation in the developed Lake Matoka watershed. She defended her PhD at VIMS in July 2025, studying the geologic evolution, straigraphic architecture, and Pleistocene sea-level history of Virginia's Eastern Shore. Kayla now works as a coastal plain geologist with the North Carolina Geological Survey.
	Andy Fallon (VIMS MSc, 2016) completed his masters at VIMS in December, 2015. Prior to his time here, Andy received a dual Bachelor’s degree in Geology and Earth Systems with a certificate in Coastal and Marine Science from the Five College system and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Andy's thesis focused on the monthly to decadal-scale cycles of erosion and accretion on Plum Island, Massachusetts and, in partnership with collaborator Porter Hoagland at WHOI, the impacts of coastal erosion on property values.
	*Evan Flynn* (VIMS MSc, 2021) earned her B.S. in Marine Science at EckerD College and then completed her MSc at VIMS, studying sediment and organic carbon dispersal and accumulation in the Ayeyarwady Delta. For this, she was co-advised by Hein, but primarily by Steve Kuehl. Evan completed a PhD at VIMS under the sole supervision of Kuehl, greatly expanding upon her Masters work on the Ayeyarwady.
	Julie Krask (VIMS MSc, 2018) completed her masters at VIMS in August 2018, after completing a study using organic biomarkers and organic and inorganic proxes to link coastal sediment deposition and sub-millennial scale climate change (focused on Tijucas Strandplain, Brazil). Julie also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in marine science from William & Mary (2015), and has experience in both cancer research and nitrogen cycling from her time as an undergraduate.
	Justin Shawler (VIMS PhD, 2022) completed bachelor’s degrees in Geology and Government at William & Mary prior to starting at VIMS. As a Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellow, his thesis focused on the evolution of the barrier island systems of the Delmarva Peninsula. Between his undergraduate and graduate work in the lab, Justin first or co-authored 10 peer-reviewed publications. And counting. Justin is now a coastal scientist with the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Check out Justin's personal webpage.
	Claudia Shuman was a graduate student at VIMS from 2014-2016, during which time she investigated barrier island dynamics and sediment fluxes along the northeastern coast of the United States. A graduate from Pennsylvania State and UDel, Claudia previously had completd a masters degree on the denitrification in a shallow aquifer beneath an active agricultural field on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Lab Alumni - Undergraduate Students

List of undergraduate student alumni
	Jessie Ayotte is majoring in biology and minor in marine science at William & Mary. After working in the lab for about a year in 2024, she took on a new role at the VIMS Center for Coastal Resources Management.
	Sarah Baker (W&M BS, 2017) graduated with a major in geology. Sarah rediscovered her love of the ocean after spending a semester studying marine science onboard a ship in the South Pacific. She completed her senior thesis studying erosion on Plum Island Point / Reservation Terrace, in Plum Island, MA, through which she contributed to our 2019 Frontiers paper, on which Sarah is an author.
	Bianca Boggs (W&M BS, 2019) graduated with a degree in geology, and as the star senior on the W&M Basketball team. From southern Maryland, with initial interest in physics and engineering, Bianca found an interest in geology and impacts humans have on climate change and earth processes. Her senior research project focused on barrier-island stratigraphy and response to sea-level rise, using field sites from New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, which formed a backbone of Shawler's 2021 Sedimentology paper, on which Bianca is an author.
	Kallie Brown (W&M BS, 2016) graduated with a degree in geology. Kallie currently worked at the Center for Coastal Resources Management at VIMS, and part-time in the Coastal Geology Lab mapping marsh area changes on the Delmarva Peninsula.
	Luiza Caminada was a volunteer in the VIMS Coastal Geology lab during the summer of 2015 when she worked on a study of marsh accretion rates in the Great Marsh, MA This followed a year of study at Montclair State University as part of a study abroad / internship program from her native Brazil.
	Cameron Clarke (W&M BS, 2022) graduated with a major in geology and minor in marine science. Her senior thesis project was field- and GIS- based, focusing on Pleistocene sea-level change near Wachapreague, Eastern Shore, Virginia.
	Ian Cook (W&M BS, 2025) graduated with a major in chemistry and began medical school at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in 2025. He was a member of the Coastal Geology Lab for the first two years at his time in college, and, after some time focusing on his chemistry studies, has returned in his senior year. His senior research project focused on sediment processes on the Amazon Delta using lead isotopes.
	Charlie Deaton (W&M BS, 2015) graduated from with majors in Geology and Environmental Science & Policy. Charlie's senior research project focused on the relationship between barrier-island migration and relative backbarrier sedimentation rates as derived from backbarrier marsh and tidal flat areas, and the impact of accelerated sea-level rise on those relationships; this work was published in Geology in 2017.
	Kate DeMarco (W&M BS, 2018) graduated from with a major in Geology. Her senior thesis project focused on the development of the Chinocteague - Assateague - Wallops island system in Virginia and the records of environmental change and coastal response preserved within the beach and foredune ridges of these islands.
	Haley Gannon (W&M BS, 2015) graduated with a major in Environmental Geology and minor in Environmental Science & Policy. For her senior research, Haley mapped changes in shoreline positions of Plum Island over the past 150 years, work for which she earned co-authorship on a Coastal Sediments Proceedings paper. Haley is now working on a masters at Johns Hopkins.
	Ally Gravgaard (W&M BS, 2023) graduated with a Minor in Marine Science and is currently pursuring a graduate degree here at VIMS with the Multispecies Research Group.
	Selwyn Heminway (W&M BS, 2023) graduated with high honors and with majors in Geology and Environmental Science. Her honors thesis was focused on modeling how different dune morphologies might respond to rising sea-levels and increased storminess brought by climate change in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The first part of this was published as a conference proceeding paper from Coastal Sediments '23 and the second part in Sustainibility in 2024.
	Lauren Herbine (W&M BS, 2018) graduated with a major in Geology. Her senior thesis work focused on the role of storm overwash and barrier-backbarrier couplings on historical marsh accretion behind several of the Virginia barrier islands.
	Nathaniel Ingle is a geology major at William & Mary. He was a member of the Coastal Geology Lab for the first two years at his time in college, and has switched gears to studying petrology.
	Kendall King (W&M BS, 2019) graduated from William & Mary with a major in Geology and minor in Marine Science. For her senior research, Kendall investigated saltmarsh accretion at four sites across the southeast US, a study published in 2024 in Communications Earth & Environment, with Kendall as co-author.
	Meghan Kirk (W&M BS, 2019) worked on an outreach project for the Barrier Islands Center (Machipongo, VA) for her Geology senior thesis project with the Coastal Geology Lab.
	Soely Luyando-Flusa is a recent graduate from the Department of Biology at the Universidad del Turabo, Puerto Rico. She was the VIMS Coastal Geology Lab Summer 2018 REU student, from which she was chosen as the VIMS student representative to the ASLO Multicultural Program (ASLOMP). Her REU project focused on human impacts on oyster populations and sedimentation in the upper Chesapeake Bay.
	Sarah Grace Lott (W&M BS, 2021) graduated with a major in geology and minor in data science. Her undergraduate thesis work focused on headland sediment bypassing processes through mapping of downdrift spit systems at the mouth of Babitonga Bay, Brazil. For this, she participated in the VIMS REU program in summer 2020, and went on to complete an W&M Geology honors thesis.
	Lawrence Maclin was a member of our lab for ~2 years, starting as a 1st-year WMSURE Scholar. He has moved on to other pastures, chasing his medical school dreams.
	Annabelle Marcais (W&M BS, 2025) graduated with a major in Geology and Environment & Sustainability. Her senior thesis with the lab focused on the carbon dynamics of the Virginia Barrier Islands and their marshes.
	Brody Marino (W&M BS, 2016) graduated with majors in Geology and Government, and minoring in Marine Science. Growing up near the Chesapeake Bay and the Outer Banks. His senior thesis project investigated the spatial and temporal scales of sediment reworking from the Merrimack River along Plum Island and nearby barriers. His work contributed to our 2019 Frontiers paper, on which Brody is an author.
	*Chloe Obara* (W&M BS, 2020) graduated with a major in Geology and minor in Marine Science. Her senior thesis work focused on understanding the dynamic morphology, sedimentology, and history of rapid growth of "Fishing Point" at the southern tip of Assateague island. This formed a major component of Shawler's 2021 Quaternary Science Reviews paper, on which Chloe is an author. Chloe is currently working for the W&M Geology Department.
	Jessica Raff (W&M BS, 2017) graduated following completion of an honors thesis with the VIMS Coastal Geology group. She studied the evolution of Parramore Island, VA and the role that changes in sea level and sediment supply have played in late Holocene change; this work was published in Marine Geology in May 2018. Jess is now a graduate student in the Goodbred Lab at Vanderbilt University.
	Mahinaokalani Robbins (W&M BS, 2021) graduated with a major in geology and minor in mathematics. She completed her senior thesis studying historical island area and sand-volume changes along the Virginia barrier islands (a study published in 2022 in Geomorphology). Her work also contibuted to Shawler's 2021 Quaternary Science Reviews paper, on which Mahina is an author. Mahina is currently working towards her MSc in volcanology at Western Washington University.
	Colleen Scott (W&M BS, 2020) graduated with a major in Geology and minor in Marine Science. Prior to joining our lab, Colleen was a Summer 2018 REU intern at VIMS researching changes in groundwater analyte concentrations. Her senior research focused on hurricane-induced marsh sedimentation along the southeast US coast, which developed a preliminary dataset used in a successful NSF proposal. Her work is now in prep for publication.
	Luis Henrique Polido de Souza was an intern (May - Oct 2014) with the VIMS Coastal Geology lab. His primary undergraduate thesis focuses on marine phosphate deposits in southern Brazil under supervision of Prof Dr. José Gustavo Natorf de Abreu. Luis' primary study with the VIMS Coastal Geology group was on basin infilling at Tijucas Strandplain, Brazil, earning him co-authorship on publications in Sedimentology and Coastal Sediments Proceedings.
	Ethan Stewart is a current student and WMSURE Scholar at William & Mary, who worked with our lab in Summer 2022. His myraid interests have taken him elsewhere, largely into the fields of Conservation.
	Melanie Strik (W&M BS, 2021) graduated with a major in geology, after four years as a star member of the W&M Field Hockey team. Her senior research focused on the stratigraphic and sedimentologic differences between natural and artificial dunes along the North Carolina Outer Banks. She is currently working on a Masters in Sustainability in Munich, Germany.
	Anna Van Dongen (W&M BS, 2025) graduated with a major in Geology and minor in Marine Science. Her work with the Coastal Geology Lab primarily focused on couplings between humans and marsh processes, focusing on our study of the Westport region of Buzzards Bay, MA.
	Grace Weeks (W&M BS, 2023) graduated with a Minor in Marine Science, after serving as co-president of the W&M Marine Science Society and working for two years in the Coastal Geology Lab, engaging in all aspects of our coastal geology field and lab program.
	Rebecca Whitney was a Summer 2016 REU intern with the VIMS Coastal Geology group and an undergraduate student majoring in Chemistry at Elmira College. As an REU intern, Rebecca worked with Chris Hein and Liz Canuel to analyze organic carbon and nitrogen markers in soil samples from Plum Island.
	Julia Zeman (W&M BS, 2025) graduated with a degree in geology. Her senior honors thesis focused on coastal foredune processes associated with beach nourishment.

Lab Alumni - Staff

List of former associate lab members
	Jennifer Connell (BS, W&M, 2017) was the Coastal Geology Laboratory Manager (aka "lab genie") between 2017 and 2024. She graduated from William & Mary with a major in Geology and minor in Marine Science after completing a senior thesis focused on human impacts on marsh accretion in the Great Marsh, Plum Island, MA. Jenn ran the Sedimentology & Gamma Lab Cost Center and . . . well the whole lab . . . during her time here. Jenn left to open a Plato's Closest in Williamsburg, so check it out sometime.
	*Mudassir Rasuli* was a technician with the Coastal Geology Laboratory's organic geochemistry lab. Trained as a medical doctor in his native Afghanistan, Mudassir has extended his knowledge of human health to plant biomarkers (and fixing finicky lab equipment).