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
Ashley Askins
M.S. student 2026 - present
B.A., Geology, University of Colorado Boulder
Ashley is an M.S. student at the University of Utah working with the Leavitt Lab. She received her B.A. in Geology from the University of Colorado Boulder. During her undergraduate studies, she researched methanogenesis in analog environments and its implications for ocean world habitability. Her research at Utah will focus on lipid biosignatures from ammonia oxidizing archaea cultured from Yellowstone hot springs. Outside of the office, Ashley enjoys reading and spending time with her dog, Shay.
Andrea Chen
PhD student 2024 - present, co-advised by M. Palucis
B.S., Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering/B.A., Earth & Planetary Sciences, the Johns Hopkins University
Andrea is an 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
Katelyn Weeks
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2025-present
B.S., Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Ph.D., Microbial Ecology/Biochemistry, Arizona State University
Kate is a postdoctoral research scientist, growing heterotrophic microorganisms in batch and chemostats and analyzing carbon isotopes to better understand their carbon use strategies. Kate completed her Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry at the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University under the supervision of Dr. Everett Shock and Dr. Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert. Her doctoral research integrated geochemistry and geomicrobiology to investigate how environmental nutrient availability and chemical energy supply shape microbial community composition and function, with a focus on ammonia-oxidizing archaea in Yellowstone hot springs. Outside the lab, you can find Kate hiking, crafting, or baking up some cakes.
ResearchGate
Google Scholar
Andrea Halling
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-present
B.S., Physics, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Utah State University
Ph.D., Microbial Ecology, University of Colorado-Boulder
Andrea completed dual B.S. degrees in Physics and Biology with an education emphasis from Utah State University. She taught high school physics for two years before pursuing a Ph.D. in Microbial Ecology/Geobiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focused on the origin and evolution of multicellular life using experimental evolution. As an SRI Fellow, she continues to study the interplay between life and the physical environment by using the Great Salt Lake to understand how planktonic life adapts to the changing ecosystem today. Outside of science, Andrea likes to bag peaks, ski, and cuddle her cat Penelope.
Projects: GSL Microalgal responses to environmental stress, GSL carbon chemistry/isotopes
Laetitia (Leti) Guibourdenche
Visiting Scholar, 2024, advised by E. Young
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
Zack Nelson
Zack is an undergraduate student at the University of Utah, studying biology and geoscience. He works in the Leavitt lab under Dr. Kate Weeks, as well as in Dr. Andrea Halling's lab through the SRI program. Outside of school, Zack will be playing ultimate frisbee or reading a good book.
