Erin Gilbert

Dr. Erin Gilbert, is played by Kristen Wiig in the 2016 film, and is Abby Yates' second-in-command. She is introduced as an assistant physics professor at Columbia University, but her bid for tenure fails after her previous research into the paranormal with Abby comes to light. She has long since dismissed her belief in ghosts, but regains it after being slimed by Gertrude Aldridge during a face-to-face encounter.

In the novelization, she is depicted as having grown up near Battle Creek, Michigan; she met Abby in her senior year of high school, and spent much of her time at the University of Michigan researching ghosts with Abby. She did postgraduate work at Princeton University, and got her doctorate at MIT.