We live on a dynamic planet, one that humans have been altering dramatically for centuries. With the current threat of climate change, it is possible that Earth may continue to warm to a point where we return to an ice-free 'greenhouse' climate, similar to what was present during the Cretaceous Period (the latter part of the Age of Dinosaurs). Because our planet has already run this climatic experiment, one of my main goals as a paleontologist is to understand how the biosphere was affected by changes in the Earth System during periods of globally warm temperatures in the geologic past.
My research focuses on evolutionary patterns and ecosystem dynamics through the Late Cretaceous, with an eye towards understanding what the ecosystems of a potentially warmer planet may look like in the not-too-distant future. I incorporate studies of both terrestrial and marine ecosystems during the Cretaceous. Because of this, my research focuses on multiple groups of organisms (see below). Geographically, North America offers one of the best opportunities to study marine and terrestrial ecosystems through space and time. During the Late Cretaceous, the Western Interior Seaway stretched from the modern Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic, with fossiliferous marine rocks exposed today from Alabama to Alberta. On the western edge of that seaway, a narrow subcontinent known as Laramidia was home to a diverse terrestrial biota that is preserved today in rocks from Mexico to Alaska. For more on my field-based research across these regions, click here. Links to pages about the groups of animals in which I specialize can be found below:
Mosasaurs Turtles
Future directions
A major theme that has arisen in my research over the last couple of years is the importance of variation and variability as an emergent property in macroevolution. Because of this, a portion of my research and collaborations over the coming years will shift into neontology (modern biology) to understand skeletal variation in biological species, with an eye towards elucidating the genetic underpinnings of variation and its evolutionary consequences.
Another major theme of my research is broadening our understanding of the paleoceanography of the Western Interior Seaway, looking at temporal and geographic variation in temperature, carbon isotopes, etc. throughout the seaway. This has allowed me to work with a great group of collaborators that focus on geochemistry and sedimentology. This has built off of my field program in the Mancos Shale (see the next page), and is expanding throughout the Interior West in the coming years.
My research focuses on evolutionary patterns and ecosystem dynamics through the Late Cretaceous, with an eye towards understanding what the ecosystems of a potentially warmer planet may look like in the not-too-distant future. I incorporate studies of both terrestrial and marine ecosystems during the Cretaceous. Because of this, my research focuses on multiple groups of organisms (see below). Geographically, North America offers one of the best opportunities to study marine and terrestrial ecosystems through space and time. During the Late Cretaceous, the Western Interior Seaway stretched from the modern Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic, with fossiliferous marine rocks exposed today from Alabama to Alberta. On the western edge of that seaway, a narrow subcontinent known as Laramidia was home to a diverse terrestrial biota that is preserved today in rocks from Mexico to Alaska. For more on my field-based research across these regions, click here. Links to pages about the groups of animals in which I specialize can be found below:
Mosasaurs Turtles
Future directions
A major theme that has arisen in my research over the last couple of years is the importance of variation and variability as an emergent property in macroevolution. Because of this, a portion of my research and collaborations over the coming years will shift into neontology (modern biology) to understand skeletal variation in biological species, with an eye towards elucidating the genetic underpinnings of variation and its evolutionary consequences.
Another major theme of my research is broadening our understanding of the paleoceanography of the Western Interior Seaway, looking at temporal and geographic variation in temperature, carbon isotopes, etc. throughout the seaway. This has allowed me to work with a great group of collaborators that focus on geochemistry and sedimentology. This has built off of my field program in the Mancos Shale (see the next page), and is expanding throughout the Interior West in the coming years.