Dr. Ross Vander Vorste
I am an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Throughout my career, I have worked in a variety of freshwater ecosystems including lakes, wetlands, streams and rivers and studied macroinvertebrates, fish, amphibians, and plants within these systems.
I earned my Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in Lyon, France. My Ph.D. advisor was Thibault Datry at the French National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA now INRAE). Before my Ph.D., I earned my Master’s in Biological Sciences and Bachelor’s in Environmental Management from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. I also have 2 years of professional experience working with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality in Raleigh, North Carolina following my Master’s degree.
Following my Ph.D., I was a postdoc at Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia for ~2 years. My advisors/mentors at Virginia Tech were Stephen Schoenholtz, Serena Ciparis, Carl Zipper and Bryan Brown. Before beginning my position at UW- La Crosse in Fall 2019, I was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley working with Stephanie Carlson and Ted Grantham.
Graduate Students
David Ellefson
David began working in the Vander Vorste lab during the Fall 2022 semester as an undergraduate. He is currently a graduate student working on a project in collaboration with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Undergraduate Students
Katelynn Ripper
Katelynn is currently a Senior at UWL, majoring in Biology on the Pre-Veterinary Track. She joined the lab in the Fall of 2024 and is now working on her own independent research project that investigates the effects of reconstituted water on the growth and survival of slimy sculpin.
Maddie Burbach
Maddie is a senior finishing her degree in biology with a minor in sustainability and environmental studies. In Fall of 2026 she will be beginning her masters degree in environmental/conservation science. During her summers, Maddie is an environmental educator at Monk Botanical Gardens and loves passing an appreciation for the natural world onto the next generation.
Calvin Majchrzak
Calvin Majchrzak joined the Vander Vorste lab in Spring of 2026 to assist in David Ellefson’s work by helping count and identify macroinvertebrates from the Upper Mississippi River. As a sophomore with a major in Environmental Science and a minor in Microbiology, Calvin has developed a strong interest in understanding the smaller forms of life that surround us and help us maintain our environment. He sees this lab as an opportunity to get his feet wet in this type of field and hopes to pursue his own independent study in the near future and further dive into this field.
Claire Rolbiecki
I am joining the lab in the Spring of 2025 to continue work on the identification of small aquatic invertebrates collected from the Mississippi River. I am a sophomore pursuing a degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis in biology and a Statistics minor. This summer I hope to work alongside Dr. Vander Vorste through the Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship program to study the emergence patterns of aquatic invertebrates on the Mississippi River. I am an active member of the UWL Waterski team and was the 2024 women’s captain. Outside of college, I attend Northside Community Church, enjoy hiking at Perrot State Park, am a coffee fanatic, and love the summer months because I get to waterski every day and catch some rays.
Cody Vlasaty
Morgan Schmidt
Elizabeth Clemens
Natalie Greymont
Jack Reagles
Posie Geyer
Regan Schinker
Former lab members:
Ben Patschull (2023-2025, MS Biology – Aquatic Sciences, Rosandich Thesis Awardee)
Cheyana Bassham (2022-2024, MS Biology – Aquatic Sciences)
Steven Verhaalen (2025, URCC Grant Awardee)
Presley Haase (2025)
Blair Miller (2025)
Kassidy Frame (2023, CSH Travel & Supply Grant Awardee)
Matthew Waite (2023, URCC Grant Awardee)
Harrison Zipperer (2023)
Zoe Engebos (2023-2024, URCC Grant Awardee)
Skylar Voigt (2023-2024, URCC Grant Awardee)
Brad Morris (2020-2023, MS Biology – Aquatic Sciences, UWL RSEL Grant Awardee)
Jaiden Lauer (2023)
Aaron Murphy (2023, UWL URCC Grant Awardee)
Kourtney Walter (2023)
Natasha Bebo (2022)
Ashlee Gander (2021-2022, UWL URCC Grant Awardee)
Spencer Reichart (2022, UWL Dean’s Distinguished Fellow 2022)
JD Golden (2020-2021)
Dirk Lueck (2020-2021)
Heidi Koehnke (2019-2020, UWL URCC Grant Awardee)
Aetia Oberman (2019-2020)
UWL Freshwater Ecology Lab 