Title: Assistant Professor of Geosciences

Position: Faculty, Department of Geosciences

Group: The Griffin Lab

Area(s): Geology, Paleoclimate

Research Summary:  My work bridges traditional vertebrate paleontology, quantitative evolutionary analysis, and developmental biology to investigate the evolution of vertebrate form across deep time. The geologic record is the only direct window into the tempo and mode of evolution; conversely, it is primarily through developmental biology that the specific mechanisms driving morphological novelty, constraint, modularity, and innovation can be determined. Our group is therefore interested in uniting these disparate sources of data to form a single cohesive story of how animal form evolves. Our work involves worldwide paleontological fieldwork, deep dives into museum collections to study organismal anatomy and growth, and cutting-edge techniques in developmental biology.

Keywords: vertebrate paleontology, evolution, developmental biology, paleoclimate, anatomy