ExoDyn Research Group

Current ExoDyn Researchers

Ella Chevalier

Credentials: BS 2025, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ella majored in Astronomy-Physics and Physics and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was awarded the Doherty Award for Excellence in Astronomy for her undergraduate work.

Ella will be starting her PhD in Astronomy at UC Berkeley in Fall 2025.

Adam Distler

Credentials: BS 2024, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Adam Distler's website

Adam graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2024 with a B.S. in Mathematics and Astronomy-Physics. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. in Astronomy at Harvard University.

Publications.

Zijun He

Position title: High School Researcher (Madison West High School)

Zijun He's website

Zijun He focuses on studying the characteristics of exoplanets through Transit Timing Variation analysesHe is a 2025 Hubert Mack Thaxton Fellow and a researcher with the 2025 NASA SEES Program.

Alyssa Jankowski

Credentials: BS 2024, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Position title: Post-bac Researcher

Alyssa Jankowski's website

Alyssa graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2023 with an Astronomy-Physics major and Certificates in Computer Science and Game Design, and is currently a post-bac researcher in the ExoDyn group.

Joseph Livesey

Credentials: BS 2022, University of Washington

Position title: Graduate Student

Joseph Livesey's website

I study the formation and evolution of planets, with a particular interest in planetary habitability.

Publications.

Thomas MacLean

Credentials: BS 2025, Caltech

Position title: Graduate Student at Stanford

Thomas MacLean's website

Thomas graduated from Caltech in 2025 with a major in Mathematics with a minor in astrophysics. His undergraduate astronomy research focused on understanding the origins of Hot Jupiter systems and was published in ApJ.

Nicholas Marston

Credentials: BS 2025, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Position title: Post-bac Researcher

Nicholas Marston's website

Nick graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2025 with Astronomy-Physics, Physics, and Scandinavian Studies majors, and is currently a post-bac researcher. His research is currently split between observational stellar astronomy and exoplanet formation & dynamics.

Eva Stafne

Position title: Undergraduate Researcher (UW-Madison)

Eva is currently focusing on characterizing exoplanetary habitability due to system dynamics. She is a 2025 Sophomore Research Fellow and recipient of the NASA Wisconsin Space Grant.

 

Publications.

Nathaniel Tanglin

Position title: Undergraduate Researcher (UW-Madison)

Nathaniel is an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Astronomy-Physics (B.S.) and Science Communications (Cert.). His research interests include planetary habitability, cosmology, and astrobiology. In ExoDyn, Nathaniel is researching how a planet’s abundance of radioactive elements affects its fitness for life. On a personal level, Nathaniel loves Jesus, people, and experiencing life.

Group Alumni

Michelle Belkovski

Credentials: BS 2022, University of Michigan

Michelle Belkovski's website

Lailyn Borum

Credentials: BS 2025, University of Michigan

Lailyn Borum's website

Lucas Brefka

Credentials: BS 2022, University of Michigan

Position title: PhD Student, Penn State

Lucas Brefka's website

Tali Khain

Credentials: PhD, University of Chicago

Position title: Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard

Tali Khain's website

Achintya Krishnan

Credentials: BS 2024, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Position title: Graduate Student

Achintya Krishnan's website

Drew Weisserman

Credentials: BS 2023, University of Michigan

Position title: PhD Student at McMaster University

Drew Weisserman's website