Former Lab Warriors

Sarah Gilbert

Former STUDENT RESEARCHER | Current Project Manager

Sarah is a University of Kentucky graduate with a degree in Natural Sciences and Geology and currently works as a Project Engineer in industrial construction. She contributes to large-scale projects and is particularly interested in design-build frameworks and project planning. Outside of work, she enjoys painting and traveling with her husband. Also, Sarah volunteers with a nonprofit focused on building resilient homes in regions affected by extreme weather.

Her passion for the natural sciences stems from a curiosity about Earth’s processes and natural resources, from microscopic interactions to large-scale systems. While working in industrial construction, she is committed to balancing environmental stewardship with economic development, particularly in underdeveloped communities.

As a senior undergraduate, Sarah joined the Washburn CHAOS Lab as a student researcher, where she worked at the intersection of geoscience, biology, and data science. Her research focused on bioinformatics and geoinformatics analysis of a 20-year E. coli environmental monitoring dataset, examining long-term trends and identifying environmental, spatial, and temporal factors influencing bacterial patterns. This experience strengthened her interest in interdisciplinary, data-driven research.

Laurhyn Griebel

Former STUDENT RESEARCHER | Current Medical Student

Laurhyn Griebel lives life at full throttle, thriving in the kind of organized chaos that feels right at home in the CHAOS Lab. She’s moved through more jobs, cities, and countries than most people hit in a lifetime, always chasing challenge over comfort. Gymnastics coaching has been her constant anchor—ten years, four gyms, countless athletes—and she’s balanced it alongside medical scribing, travel work, and a schedule that never really slows down.

Originally trained as a middle school math and science teacher, Laurhyn realized she wasn’t built to stay in a box. She pivoted out of education and into healthcare, completing the post-baccalaureate pre-med program at the University of Louisville with support from Laura Hamann and Dr. Rachel Washburn. Her time in CHAOS reinforced her love of research and her refusal to undershoot her own ambition. She now attends the University of Louisville School of Medicine, driven by a fascination with the human body and a commitment to lifelong learning.

Outside the lab and clinic, Laurhyn plays competitive co-ed volleyball, dominates game nights, and unapologetically prefers cruising as the superior mode of travel. She also has one cat, Euri—named with equal parts astronomy and storytelling energy—continuing her tradition of planetary companions.