Leavitt Lab
People
Principal Investigator
William Leavitt
Associate Professor
​
Utah Faculty Profile
​
Google Scholar (see for latest publications)
Staff
Annie Kandel
Lab Manager & Research Assistant, 2024 - present
B.S., Chemistry, Bates College
M.S., Chemical Oceanography, University of Alaska Fairbanks
​​​​
​
LinkedIn​​
Graduate Students
B.A., Biology, Bates College
M.S., Marine Science, UT Austin
​
Carrie holds a M.S. in Marine Science from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Biology from Bates College. She is currently a 5th year PhD Candidate in the Leavitt Lab. Broadly, Carrie is interested in using stable isotope geochemistry as a tool to understand connections between the biotic and abiotic worlds. For her PhD, Carrie studies the formation and preservation of organic and isotopic biomarkers in extreme terrestrial environments that serve as analogs for putative biosignature formation on other planetary bodies, like Mars. Her research combines lab experiments on extremophilic microbes with field validations at Mars analogs. Her field sites include salt flats in the Atacama Desert (Chile), hot springs in El Tatio (Chile) and Yellowstone National Park, and permafrost in Greenland. Carrie is also interested in pedagogy and curriculum design and has served as a DIFUSE Fellow for data science education and a JSEP Fellow for Arctic change education. Outside of work, she likes hiking, reading science fiction, and hanging out with her puppy, Finnegan.
​
Projects: Archaeal lipid biomarkers, mars analogs
​
Carolynn (Carrie) Harris
Ph.D. student 2020 - present
Jiawen Li
Ph.D. student 2021 - present
B.S., Peking University
M.S., University of California, Los Angeles
​
Jiawen is a 3rd year Ph.D. candidate in Leavitt Lab at Dartmouth College. He received his B.S. in Chemistry at Peking University and his M.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research focuses on using isotope signatures, especially tools like clumped isotopes, to resolve the provenance of methane and hydrogen gas. The goal is to combine lab incubation and modeling to understand the mechanism of methane and hydrogen clumped isotope fractionation in methanogenesis, methanotrophy and hydrogenotrophy. Aside from work, Jiawen likes hiking and skiing.
​
Projects: Methane clumped isotopes, methanogenesis, methanotrophy, hydrogen clumped isotopes.
​
Mia Thompson
M.S. student 2023 - present
B.A., Biological Sciences & Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University
Mia is an M.S. student in the Leavitt Lab at Dartmouth College. She previously obtained a B.A. in Biological Sciences and Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University. She is broadly interested in the potential of stable methane isotopes as tools to differentiate between biotic and abiotic methane formation sources. Her research will focus on microbial culturing experiments of methane-producing archaea to explore their methane clumped isotope signatures. Outside of work, she enjoys painting, crocheting, hiking, and spending time with her two cats.
Projects: methanogens, methane clumped isotopes
​
​
Andrea Chen
M.S. student 2024 - present, co-advised by M. Palucis
​
B.S., Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering/B.A., Earth & Planetary Sciences, the Johns Hopkins University
​
Andrea is a 1st year M.S. student at Dartmouth College co-advised by the Leavitt Lab and the Palucis Lab. She received her B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and her B.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University. For her undergraduate senior thesis she studied water column redox control on the offset of paired kerogen-pyrite sulfur isotopes. Her research will focus on utilizing remote sensing techniques to enhance biosignature characterization across salinity gradients in the Atacama Desert (Chile), as a modern-day Mars analog. Outside of the office, Andrea is a cycle instructor and also enjoys hiking and road-tripping.
​
Projects: biosignature characterization, Mars analogs
​
​
​
Postdocs
Laetitia (Leti) Guibourdenche
Visiting Scholar, 2024
​
Laetitia is an isotope geochemist with an expertise in past and present marine biogeochemistry, focusing on sulfur and carbon cycle. She earned her PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), France after completing her MSc at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada. Since 2024, she is working as a post-doctoral researcher at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), investigating the potential of clumped isotopes of methane as biosignatures. Her research will combine high resolution isotopic measurements and theoretical modeling of clumped isotopologues at UCLA as well as implementing microbial culture experiments of methanogens at Dartmouth College.
​
Projects: thermogenic vs microbialgenic methane; clumped isotopes; methanogenesis rates
​
​
​
​
Undergraduate Students
Olivia Pendas '25
Research assistant, Earth Sci. Major
Olivia is a Dartmouth ‘25 Earth Sciences student. She is broadly interested in microbial biomarker formation as a means of understanding life in extreme environments that may be common beyond Earth. She is currently working towards an honors thesis investigating the role of archaeal lipid structures in constraining pH in hot spring environments in the El Tatio hydrothermal field. Outside of school and work, Olivia is an avid rock climber and skier.
​
Project: Archaeal lipid biomarkers in the Atacama desert
Dankweli Mwaka '27
Research assistant, Earth Sci. Major
Dankweli is a Dartmouth ‘27 Earth Science student. They are interested in how geochemical cycles on Earth are affected by living organisms and vice-versa. Furthermore, they are interested in exploring how these cycles may differ on other planets and what that would entail for the search for life elsewhere. Dankweli is a lover of literature, always looking for sci-fi/fantasy recommendations.
Project: Methanogens
