Graduate students in the SCSU Fossil Fishes lab are pursuing a Masters Degree of Biology at St. Cloud State University. Here is the rundown of current and past lab members working on various “fishy” projects!

Current Lab Members

Kathleen Plesh

Kathleen began in the Fossil Fishes lab in Fall of 2025, after graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Kathleen is describing fish biodiversity from the Upper Triassic Dockum Group of New Mexico.

Maisie Leick

Maisie is joining the Fossil Fishes Lab in Fall of 2026. She graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in Earth Science from St. Cloud State University in Spring of 2026. Her graduate research will be examining Cretaceous-age fish scales from Minnesota.

Patience Brennan

Patience is joining the Fossil Fishes Lab in Fall of 2026. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management from California Polytechnic Institute Humboldt. Her graduate research will be examining Pleistocene fossil fishes from southern Minnesota.

Keith Korsmo

Though Keith is not working on fossil fishes, he is still part of the lab! Keith is a graduate of St. Cloud State University (SCSU) with Bachelor’s Degree in Earth Sciences. He works as a hydrologist for the Minnesota DNR, and is working on completing a Masters of Biology degree at SCSU.

Fossil Fishes Lab Graduates

Aimee Hruska

Aimee graduated in Spring 2025 with a M.S. in Biology. Her research was on coccolepidid jaws and rhizodont fossils.

Spencer Ott

Spencer graduated in 2024 with a M.S. in Biology. His research was on the biodiversity of the Triassic Dockum Group.