People

Meet our Team

Principal Investigator

Laura Treers

Assistant Professor

Email: laura.treers@uvm.edu
Education: 

  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2014 – 2018.
  • Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2018 – 2023.
  • Postdoctoral training: Georgia Tech, School of Physics & School of Biological Sciences, 2023 – 2024.

Graduate Students

Zakary Claman

MS/PhD student

  • Program: Mechanical Engineering
  • Education: B.S. Physics, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
  • Research Interests: Robophysical modeling of collective systems

Chhayank Srivastava

PhD student

  • Program: Mechanical Engineering
  • Education:  M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech; B.Tech., Mechanical Engineering, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University
  • Research Interests: Modeling and controls for robotic interaction with grains

Haley Brewster

Graduate student

  • Program: Complex Systems & Data Science
  • Education: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Vermont
  • Research interests: Robot design for burrowing in saturated substrates

Undergraduate Students

Alethea Constantine

Undergraduate, Senior

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Terrain characterization for mobile robots

Adam Boyle

Undergraduate, Junior

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Robotic construction with cohesive granular media

Zach Haimes

Undergraduate, Junior

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluidizing granular bed design

Callie Levitt

Undergraduate, Junior

Major: Computer Science
Research Interests: Sensor integration for robotic construction

Nate Weitzel-King

Undergraduate, Sophomore

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Legged locomotion in vertical tunnels

High School Students

Jeonghun Jin

Rice Memorial High School

Nara Feng

Illinois Math & Science Academy

Clay Nicholson

Champlain Valley Union High School

Interested in getting involved?

Are you interested in working with our group?

Prospective graduate students: The fall 2025 admissions cycle is complete. Please check back in before the fall 2026 admissions cycle to inquire about potential positions in the lab.

Postdoctoral scholars: The lab does not currently have any available postdoctoral positions.

Undergraduate students: We are happy to work with undergraduate students interested in our research, from any major within the College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences or the Biological Sciences at UVM. Feel free to reach out to Prof. Treers to learn more about potential projects within the lab.