People

Savannah Finley is an EC&T Ph.D. student advised by Matt Ginder-Vogel. Born and raised in Michigan, Savannah is a proud, first-generation college student, who graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Chemistry. Savannah is currently researching carbon sequestration, the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in an effort to reduce global carbon emissions, in collaboration with Dr. Bu Wang. Savannah would love to be a featured guest on The Positive Mindset Podcast and if invited, could share her amazing skill of reciting up to 211 digits of pi. She is an avid connoisseur of all things food as she loves to sample all of the Babcock ice cream flavors and cannot live without Spinach and Artichoke dip. When not in the lab, Savannah can be found outside hiking, rock climbing, and tending to her giant elephant ear plant, Elephanzo.

Prof. Matt Ginder-Vogel is an Associate professor in the Environmental Chemistry and Technology program at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Prior to joining the Madison faculty, Dr. Ginder-Vogel was the manager of process and analytical chemistry at Calera Corporation. At Calera he led teams responsible for production of cemetitious materials derived from industrial CO2 sources. Previously he worked at the Delaware Environmental Institute at the University of Delaware. He received his Ph.D. in soil and environmental biogeochemistry from Stanford University.

Amy Plechacek is a graduate student in the Environmental Biogeochemistry group in the Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program studying the geologic sources of radium to municipal wells in Wisconsin. Prior to arriving at UW-Madison, she received a B.S. in Geosciences from Virginia Tech. In her free time, Amy enjoys watching and playing sports, travelling, and the outdoors.

Jenna Swenson is an EC&T student co advised by Christy Remucal studying the influence of DOM on the oxidation of phenolic contaminants by manganese oxides. She is from Brainerd, MN and obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth, in both chemistry and biochemistry. She would love to be featured on Dear Hank and John the podcast and if she could, she would own a pet penguin. Proud to admit, Jenna cannot live without Spotify and that Minnesota has better beer than Wisconsin. Therefore, cheese curds from Babcock are her favorite food. Aside from keeping busy reading, baking, and taking care of her new German Shepherd Lola, she also holds a black belt in karate.