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Paleobiology

Paleobiology

A picture of Javier Ortega-Hernandez

Javier Ortega-Hernández

Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
Affiliated Faculty Member of Earth and Planetary Sciences

The main goal of my research is to better understand the substantial extinct biodiversity of invertebrate metazoans that first appeared and rapidly...

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Faculty Webpage
OEB Website
The Museum of Comparative Zoology Labs
26 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
jortegahernandez@fas.harvard.edu
p: 617-495-2496
David Johnston

David Johnston

Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Director of Graduate Studies

Isotope geochemistry and historical geobiology. Re-animating ancient ecosystems and ocean chemistry using stable isotope systems, chemical speciation techniques, modern microbial experiments (for calibration) and theoretical considerations.

Research Group Coordinator:

The Johnston Lab
EPS
20 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Office Location: Geo Mus 363
johnston@eps.harvard.edu
p: 617-496-5024 f: 617-384-7396
Andrew Knoll

Andrew Knoll

Fisher Professor of Natural History; Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Emeritus

Andy Knoll is the Fisher Professor of Natural History at Harvard University. He received his B.A. in Geology from Lehigh University in 1973 and his Ph.D., also in Geology, from Harvard in 1977.... Read more about Andrew Knoll

The Knoll Lab
Harvard University Botanical Museum
26 Oxford St.
Cambridge MA 02138

Office location: Botanical Museum Room 50
aknoll@fas.harvard.edu
p: 617-495-9306, f: 617-495-5667
Drew Muscente

Drew Muscente

Post-Doctoral Fellow
Knoll Group

Before joining the Knoll Group, Drew received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Geosciences from Virginia Tech. As a paleontologist and geobiologist, his work focuses on fossils of complex eukaryotes in the late Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic interval (~1000-450 Ma) of the geologic record. By studying the paleobiology and paleoenvironments of these fossils, his work aims to understand the rise of animal life and its impact on the Earth system.

... Read more about Drew Muscente

muscente@g.harvard.edu
Elizabeth Sibert

Elizabeth Sibert

Post-Doctoral Fellow
Knoll - Pierce - Lauder Groups
Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows

Elizabeth is both a paleontologist and biological oceanographer. She is broadly interested in the evolution, structure, and function of ocean ecosystems. She uses a multi-proxy approach to study how the open ocean ecosystem has changed through time, with a focus on how it has responded to climate and biotic events in the past. Elizabeth works primarily with ichthyoliths, microfossil fish teeth and shark scales found in deep-sea sediments world wide, which preserve an unparalleled record of fish diversity, abundance, and community structure through geologic time. 

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Professional Website
esibert@fas.harvard.edu
2015 Nov 10

Geobiology Seminar: "Mechanisms of the calcification response to ocean change"

12:30pm to 1:30pm

Location: 

Haller Hall (Geology Museum 102)

Speaker: Christina Frieder (USC)

Abstract:

Interactions between organic and inorganic processes are fundamental to development and growth. The initiation of shell formation in extant shelled molluscs appears to be an evolutionarily conserved process. Nevertheless, the physiology that coordinates biomineralization can be hindered by adverse environmental conditions, during which shells also retain environmental information that can...

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2015 Oct 20

Paleobiology Seminar: "Dating Microbial Phylogeny Using Horizontal Gene Transfer and Meta-Alignments"

12:30pm to 1:30pm

Location: 

Haller Hall (Geology Museum 102)

Speaker: Greg Fournier (MIT)

Abstract:

Date calibrations for applying molecular clocks to phylogeny are typically provided by fossil or other geologically preserved evidence.  However, for the vast majority of the Tree of Life, no fossil record exists.  While the paleontological record of lipid biomarkers and microbial microfossils provides some information, these records are extremely sparse, and often ambiguous. ...

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2015 Mar 24

Lecture with Andy Knoll

6:00pm to 8:00pm

Location: 

Geological Lecture Hall

Written in Stone: Reading Earth’s Library of Planetary History

Andrew H. Knoll, Fisher Professor of Natural History, Departments of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University

 

We live on a mature planet shaped by four billion years of evolution and environmental change. But what was Earth like in its youth and adolescence? To find out, Andrew Knoll travels to remote locations in search of rocks...

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