People

Current group

Ajay B. Limaye

Associate Professor

Limaye studies landscape evolution on Earth and other planets, focusing on the role of rivers. Full bio here. [email protected] | CV | Google Scholar | LinkedIn | How to say my name 🔊

Gabriela Birardi

Graduate Student (M.S. track)

Gabriela’s research focuses on long-term morphodynamics of the Shenandoah River in central Virginia. She holds a B.A from Lehigh Univ. (2023)

Vidushi Sharma

Graduate Student (Ph.D. track)

Vidushi’s thesis focuses on spatial trends in valley morphology in the Appalachian plateau. She holds an M.S. from Panjab Univ. Chandigarh, India (2020).

Sophia Wood

Graduate Student (Ph.D. track)

Sophia’s research focuses on the evolution of alluvial fans on Mars. In summer 2026 she is interning with the Mars 2020 Science Team (NASA-JPL). She holds a B.S. from Penn State (2025).

An expansive view of a landscape with clouds above

Christina Sowinski

Graduate Student (Ph.D. track)

Christina is an incoming PhD student interested in planetary dunes. Her research is supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2026-2029). Christina is a graduate of Purdue Univ. (B.S., 2026).

Leo Wang

Undergraduate student

Leo is a visiting student from Carleton College (Minnesota). He is helping design laboratory geomorphology experiments this summer.

Dante Ragusa

Undergraduate student

Dante is a rising 4th-year major in Environmental Sciences and Astrophysics. In summer 2026 he is also working with our team to design laboratory geomorphology experiments.

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Interested in joining us?

See Opportunities for more information.

Past group members

Undergraduate students (Distinguished Majors Program)

Medha Prakash (B.A., 2023), now Graduate student, Univ. Texas at Austin. Thesis: Morphometric comparisons of terrestrial eskers and Martian ridges reveal pathways of persistent meltwater drainage.

Victoria Thompson (B.A., 2024), now Graduate student, Duke Univ. Thesis: Numerical modeling of the effect of variable wind direction on migration of sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge, North Carolina.

Julia Lynn (B.A., 2026), now Graduate student, U. Maryland. Thesis: Characterizing the atmospheric signatures of early-season dust storms on Mars.

Audrey Yin (B.A., 2026). Thesis: Numerical modeling of pattern formation in the polar ice deposits of Mars.

Graduate students

Jake Smith (M.S., 2022), now at Apex Clean Energy (Charlottesville, VA). Thesis: Comparison of hydrologic algorithms for mapping valleys using digital elevation models.

Yuan Li (Ph.D., 2024), now postdoctoral researcher, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Indiana Univ. Thesis: Lateral migration of alluvial river channels.

Ariana Flournoy (M.S., 2024), now at Washington Geological Survey. Thesis: Martian alluvial fans: Comparing fan and catchment areas a proxy for paleoclimate.

Abby Ackerman (M.S., 2025). Thesis: Effects of debris flow disturbance on vegetation, soils, and topography in a steep landscape in central Virginia.

Postdoctoral researchers

Hongbo Ma (2021). Now Assistant Professor, Univ. Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Youwei Wang (2022-2025), now Research Scientist, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dimitri Bandou (2023-2025)