HOME / PEOPLE /

Knoll Group

Andrew H. Knoll

Andrew H. Knoll

Fisher Professor of Natural History and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

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 H. 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
Zachary Adam

Zachary Adam

Post-Doctoral Fellow
Knoll

Zach studies two of the major transitions in the history of life as part of the Knoll Group: the origins of replicating molecules and the origins of the eukaryotic cell. For his PhD project, he discovered two new sources of microfossils in the 1.4 billion year old Belt Supergroup of Montana. The assemblages include unique specimens of Tappania plana, one of the earliest examples of complex eukaryotes and the first such fossils reported from Laurentia.... Read more about Zachary Adam

zadam@fas.harvard.edu
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
Leigh Anne Riedman

Leigh Anne Riedman

Visiting Post-Doctoral Fellow
Knoll

I received my PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara; my MS from University of California, Los Angeles and my B.S. in Geology from Louisiana Tech University. I joined Andy Knoll's Lab in August of 2015 as a NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellow.

I study the most interesting billion years of life's history- the Neoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic Eras (~1600 to 540 million years ago). This is when eukaryotes (cells with nuclei) became more diverse and abundant and I want to understand more about how that happened and why it happened when it did. During this time there were also major changes in the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and there were at least two global glaciations. With my research I am working to understand life's role in that changing world.... Read more about Leigh Anne Riedman

lriedman@fas.harvard.edu
Elizabeth Sibert

Elizabeth Sibert

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

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. 

... Read more about Elizabeth Sibert

Professional Website
esibert@fas.harvard.edu