Susan M. Kidwell
Susan Kidwell
Phone: (773) 702-3008
Email: skidwell at uchicago.edu
Office: Hinds 261
Research interests:
Acquiring baseline information on ecosystems before the onset of human activities of a particular type or intensity is essential to evaluating anthropogenic impacts and to developing targets for remediation. However, in many settings such baselines are unobtainable because human impacts preceded biomonitoring. My primary research interest is in quantifying and understanding the fidelity and resolving power of the fossil record, so that geohistorical insights can be brought with confidence into the analysis of modern-day environmental problems. Understanding the dynamics of fossil preservation is of course also essential to analyzing deeper-time records, which provide opportunities to test for general rules of community organization and evolution (see NRC 2005 The Geologic Record of Ecological Dynamics). Our "Death at Noon" lab group ("now live at 11 a.m. on Fridays") meets ~weekly to discuss, complain, console, and brainstorm our various ongoing projects in this general field of conservation paleobiology.
At present, I am pursuing these issues primarily via studies of death assemblages in modern environments - the shelly remains of mollusks that can be sieved from the top few cm or 10 cm of the seafloor and from sedimentary cores that retrieve the last few centuries to millennia of accumulation. One approach is meta-analysis -- statistical synthesis of many local "live-dead" comparisons, conducted by others in diverse coastal waters. At present, the database comprises ~150 live-dead studies of mollusks from soft-sediment seafloors, and a companion "live-live" database on temporal and spatial variability within living mollusk communities is under construction, to use as a benchmark. These analyses reveal the average faithfulness with which time-averaged dead remains capture biological information, for example information on species composition or environmental gradients in richness, as well as the factors associated with particularly high or low levels of information capture by death assemblages.
A second approach is original analysis of specific field areas, largely to test hypotheses generated by meta-analysis. The greatest surprise from meta-analysis of molluscan death assemblages - also showing up in live-dead studies that are being conducted for other groups, including land mammal studies by Univ Chicago graduate students -- has been how good live-dead agreement actually is on average, given that skeletal remains in the upper mixed zone of the sedimentary column are usually time-averaged over decades at least and commonly include specimens from centuries to millennia ago. We are exploring the underlying factors by a combination of modeling and field studies.
Current projects include:
1. A live-dead analysis of the southern California continental shelf, where public agencies have been biomonitoring benthic communities offshore of wastewater treatment plants for the last ~40 years (with post-doctoral fellow Adam Tomasovych). This extraordinary legacy of "live data" can be used to evaluate the fidelity of dead shell remains that we have salvaged from the same benthic samples; in addition, radiocarbon-calibrated amino-acid racemization dating can be used to determine the absolute magnitude of time-averaging represented by these dead shell assemblages. A wealth of information also exists for natural environmental change (e.g., Pacific Decadal Oscillation in sea temperature and productivity), wastewater discharge, and urbanization for the last century, making this an unusual and we believe unique opportunity to test the basic dynamics of death assemblage formation and preservation in an important and understudied biotope. Once the preservational quality of this system has been assessed using currently forming death assemblages, we can reconstruct a history of ecological response to urbanization using death assemblages from the older parts of sedimentary cores, allowing us to identify (a) what truly natural (pre-urban) benthic communities were like, (b) what communities were like when the system was most degraded by pollution, and (c) how much those communities have changed in response to improved wastewater treatment and secular warming. [supported by NSF-EAR and NOAA SeaGrant]
2. Fidelity and temporal resolution of small-mammal death assemblages that are generated and concentrated in cave deposits by raptors (avian predators; Great Basin): time-averaged pellet assemblages are good integrators of the habitat mosaic and decadal variability in modern systems, and capture pre-impact ecological baselines -- dissertation work of advisee Rebecca Terry. See her web-page http://home.uchicago.edu/~rcterry/. [supported by EPA-STAR fellowship, NSF-graduate fellowship, and the National Geographic Society]
3. Fidelity and temporal resolution of large-mammal death assemblages in temperate climates (Yellowstone National Park): bone, teeth and antler assemblages that accumulate on land surfaces capture historic species composition, relative abundance, and habitat use - dissertation work of advisee Joshua Miller. See his web-page http://home.uchicago.edu/~millerjh/index.html [supported by an NSF-graduate fellowship and NSF-DDIG]
4. Physiological and community-level responses of mollusks to climate warming, Miocene of Oregon -dissertation work of advisee Christina Belanger [supported by NSF graduate fellowship]
Publications since 2000:
Kosnik, M.A., A. K. Behrensmeyer, F. T. F¸rsich, R. A. Gastaldo, S. M. Kidwell, M.
Kowalewski, R. E. Plotnick, R. R. Rogers, P. J. Wagner, and J. Alroy, in press for
2011. Changes in the shell durability of common marine taxa through the
Phanerozoic: evidence for biological rather than taphonomic drivers.
Paleobiology 37:
Tomasovych, A. and S.M. Kidwell, in press for 2011. Accounting for the effects
of biological variability and temporal autocorrelation in assessing the
preservation of species abundance. Paleobiology 37:
Kidwell, S.M. and T.A. Rothfus, 2010. The live, the dead, and the expected dead:
variation in life span yields little bias of proportional abundances in bivalve
death assemblages. Paleobiology 36: 615-640. [pdf link]
Tomasovych, A. and S.M. Kidwell, 2010. Effects of temporal scaling on species
composition, diversity, and rank-abundance distributions in benthic
assemblages. Paleobiology 36:672-695. [pdf link]
Tomasovych, A. and S.M. Kidwell, 2010. The effects of temporal resolution on
species turnover and on testing metacommunity models. American Naturalist
175: 587-606. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2009. Evaluating human modification of shallow marine ecosystems: mismatch in composition of molluscan living and time-averaged death assemblages, p. 113-139. In G.P. Dietl and K.W. Flessa, eds., Conservation Paleobiology: Using the Past to Manage for the Future. Paleontological Society Papers Vol. 15. [pdf link]
Tomasovych, A. and S.M. Kidwell, 2009. Fidelity of variation in species composition and diversity partitioning by death assemblages: time- averaging transfers diversity from beta to alpha levels . Paleobiology 35: 97- 121. [pdf link]
Tomasovych, A. and S.M. Kidwell, 2009. Preservation of spatial and environmental gradients by death assemblages. Paleobiology 35: 122-148. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2008. Ecological fidelity of open marine molluscan death
assemblages: effects of post-mortem transportation, shelf health, and taphonomic inertia. Lethaia 41: 199-217. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2007. Discordance between living and death assemblages as evidence for anthropogenic ecological change. Proc Nat Acad Science USA 104(45): 17701-17706. [Commentary by J.P. Smol, 2007. Marine sediments tell it like it was. PNAS 104: 17563-64] [pdf link] and commentary [pdf link] and supplemental materials [pdf link]
Rogers, RR, and SM Kidwell, 2007. The origin and interpretation of bonebeds, p. 1-63. In Rogers, RR, D Eberth and A Fiorillo, eds, Bonebeds: Genesis, Analysis, and Paleobiological Significance. Univ Chicago Press. [pdf link]
Best, M.M.R, T. C.W. Ku, S. M. Kidwell, and L. M. Walter, 2007 Carbonate preservation in shallow marine environments: Unexpected role of tropical siliciclastics. J. Geology 115, p. 437-456. [pdf link]
Olszewski, T.A. and S.M. Kidwell, 2007. The preservational fidelity of evenness in molluscan death assemblages. Paleobiology 33: 1-23. [pdf link]
Lötze, H.K., H.S. Lenihan, B.J. Bourque, R. Bradbury, R.G. Cooke, M. Kay, S.M. Kidwell, M.X. Kirby, C.H. Peterson, J.B.C. Jackson, 2006. Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas worldwide. Science 312: 1806-1809. [pdf link] and Supplemental Materials [pdf link]
Valentine, J.W., D. Jablonski, S.M. Kidwell, and K. Roy, 2006. Assessing the fidelity of the fossil record by using marine bivalves. Proc Nat Acad Science USA 103: 6599-6604. [pdf link]
Behrensmeyer, A. K., F. T. Fürsich, R. A. Gastaldo, S. M. Kidwell, M. A. Kosnik, M. Kowalewski, R. E. Plotnick, R. R. Rogers, J. Alroy, 2005. Are the most durable shelly taxa also the most common in the marine fossil record? Paleobiology 31: 607-623 [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., M.M.R. Best, and D. Kaufman, 2005. Taphonomic tradeoffs in tropical marine death assemblages: differential time-averaging, shell loss, and probable bias in siliciclastic versus carbonate facies. Geology 33: 729-732. [pdf link] and Supporting Materials [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2005. Shell composition has no net impact on large-scale evolutionary patterns in mollusks. Science 307: 914-917. [pdf link] and Supplemental Materials [pdf link]
Kidwell, SM and SM Holland, 2002. Quality of the fossil record: implications for evolutionary biology. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics 33: 561-588. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2002. Time-averaged molluscan death assemblages: palimpsests of richness, snapshots of abundance. Geology 30 (9): 803-806. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2002. Mesh-size effects on the ecological fidelity of death assemblages: A meta-analysis of molluscan live-dead studies. Geobios mémoire spécial n. 24, 107-119. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2002. The stratigraphy of skeletal concentrations: Testing for broad-scale trends. In. M. de Renzi et al., eds., Current Topics on Taphonomy and Fossilization (Proceedings International Conference Taphos 2002), p. 179-186. Valencia, Spain: Ayuntamiento de Valencia [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2002. Ecological fidelity of abundance data from time-averaged fossil assemblages: Good news from the dead. In. M. de Renzi et al., eds., Current Topics on Taphonomy and Fossilization (Proceedings International Conference Taphos 2002), p. 173-178. Valencia, Spain: Ayuntamiento de Valencia [pdf link]
Peterson, C., J. Jackson, M. Kirby, H. Lenihan, B. Bourque, R. Bradbury, R. Cooke, and S. Kidwell, 2001. Factors in the decline of coastal ecosystems. Response. Science v. 293(5535): 1590-1591.
Kidwell, S.M., 2001 (in press since 1998). Ecological fidelity of molluscan death assemblages, p.199-221. In J.Y. Aller, S.A. Woodin, and R.C. Aller (eds.), Organism-Sediment Interactions. Belle W. Baruch Library in Marine Science no. 21, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2001. Preservation of species abundance in marine death assemblages. Science 294: 1091-1094 [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 2001. Major biases in the fossil record, p. 299-305. In Paleobiology II, A Synthesis (D.E.G. Briggs and PR Crowther, eds.). Oxford: Blackwell. [pdf link]
Jackson, J.B.C., M.X. Kirby, and 16 alphabetic authors including S.M. Kidwell, 2001. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629-638. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., TA Rothfus, and M.M.R. Best, 2001. Sensitivity of taphonomic signatures to sample size, sieve size, damage scoring system, and target taxa. Palaios 16: 26-52. [pdf link]
Behrensmeyer, A.K., S.M. Kidwell, and R. Gastaldo, 2000. Taphonomy and paleobiology. In DH Erwin and SL Wing, eds, Deep Time, Paleobioloogy's Perspective. Paleobiology, Supplement to Volume 26(4): 103-147. [pdf link]
Rogers, R.R., and S.M. Kidwell, 2000. Associations of vertebrate skeletal concentrations and discontinuity surfaces in nonmarine and shallow marine records: A test in the Cretaceous of Montana. J. Geology 108 (2): 131-154. [pdf link]
Best, M.M.R, and S.M. Kidwell, 2000. Bivalve taphonomy in tropical mixed siliciclastic-carbonate settings: I. Environmental variation in shell condition. Paleobiology 26 (1): 80-102. [pdf link]
Best, M.M.R, and S.M. Kidwell, 2000. Bivalve taphonomy in tropical mixed siliciclastic-carbonate settings: II. Effect of bivalve life-habits and shell types. Paleobiology 26 (1): 103-115. [pdf link]
OLDER PAPERS
Fidelity & time-averaging, experimental taphonomy, general reviews
Kidwell, S.M., 1998. Time-averaging in the marine fossil record: overview of strategies and uncertainties. Géobios 30: 977-995. [pdf link]
Roy, K., J.W. Valentine, D. Jablonski, and S.M. Kidwell, 1996. Scales of climatic variability and time averaging in Pleistocene biotas: Implications for ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11: 458-463. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., and K. W. Flessa, 1995. The quality of the fossil record: Populations, species, and communities. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 26: 269-299. [reprinted with additional notes in Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences (1996) vol. 24: 433-464.] [pdf link 1] [pdf link 2]
Kidwell, S.M., 1993. Patterns of time-averaging in shallow marine fossil assemblages. In Taphonomic Approaches to Time Resolution in Fossil Assemblages (S.M. Kidwell and A.K. Behrensmeyer, eds.). Paleontological Society Shortcourse 6: 275-300.
Glover, C.P., and S.M. Kidwell, 1993. Influence of organic matrix on the post-mortem destruction of molluscan shells. Journal of Geology 101: 729-747. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., and D.W.J. Bosence, 1991. Taphonomy and time-averaging of marine shelly faunas. In Taphonomy, Releasing the Data Locked in the Fossil Record (P.A. Allison & D.E.G. Briggs, eds.). New York: Plenum Press, p. 115-209. [pdf link] [pdf compressed size for easier download]
Kidwell, S.M., and T. Baumiller, 1990. Experimental disintegration of regular echinoids: roles of temperature, oxygen and decay thresholds. Paleobiology 16 (3): 247-271. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S. M., and A.K. Behrensmeyer, 1988. Overview: Ecological and evolutionary implications of taphonomic processes. Palaeogeog. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 63: 1-14.
Behrensmeyer, A.K., and S.M. Kidwell, 1985. Taphonomy's contributions to paleobiology. Paleobiology 11: 105-119. [pdf link]
Analysis of skeletal concentrations - includes evolution of shellbeds, taphonomic feedback, stratigraphic taphonomy
Kidwell, S.M., and E.D. Gyllenhaal, 1998. Symbiosis, competition, and physical disturbance in the growth histories of cheilostome bryoliths, Pliocene Imperial Formation, California. Lethaia 31: 221-239. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., and P.J. Brenchley, 1996. Evolution of the fossil record: thickness trends in marine skeletal accumulations and their implications. In Evolutionary Paleobiology: Essays in Honor of James W. Valentine (D. Jablonski, D.H.Erwin, and J.H. Lipps, eds.), Univ. Chicago Press, p. 290-336. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., and P.J. Brenchley, 1994. Patterns of bioclastic accumulation through the Phanerozoic: Changes in input or in destruction? Geology 22: 1139-1143. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1990. Phanerozoic evolution of macroinvertebrate shell accumulations: Preliminary data from the Jurassic of Britain. Paleontological Society Special Publication 5: 309-327. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1993. Taphonomic expressions of sedimentary hiatus: field observations on bioclastic concentrations and sequence anatomy in low, moderate and high subsidence settings. Geol. Rundschau 82: 189-202. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1993. Influence of subsidence on the anatomy of marine siliciclastic sequences and on the distribution of shell and bone beds. Jour. Geol. Soc. London 150: 165-167. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1991. The stratigraphy of shell concentrations. In Taphonomy, Releasing the Data Locked in the Fossil Record (P.A. Allison & D.E.G. Briggs, eds.). New York: Plenum Press, p. 211-290. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1991. Condensed deposits in siliciclastic sequences: expected and observed features. In Cycles and Events in Stratigraphy (G. Einsele, W. Ricken, A. Seilacher, eds.), Berlin: Springer Verlag, p. 682-695. [pdf link]
Banerjee, I., and S.M. Kidwell, 1991. Significance of molluscan shell beds in sequence stratigraphy: an example from the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group of Canada. Sedimentology 38: 913-934.
Kidwell, S.M., and S.M. Holland, 1991. Field description of coarse bioclastic fabrics. Palaios 6(4): 426-434. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1991. Taphonomic feedback (live/dead interactions) in the genesis of bioclastic beds: keys to reconstructing sedimentary dynamics. In Cycles and Events in Stratigraphy (G. Einsele, W. Ricken, A. Seilacher, eds.), Berlin: Springer Verlag, p. 268-282. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1989. Stratigraphic condensation of marine transgressive records: origin of major shell deposits in the Miocene of Maryland. Jour. Geology. 97: 1-24. [includes marine bone beds] [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1988. Taphonomic comparison of passive and active continental margins: Neogene shell beds of the Atlantic coastal plain and northern Gulf of California. Palaeogeog. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 63: 201-224.
Beckvar, N., and S.M. Kidwell, 1988. Hiatal shell concentrations, sequence analysis, and sealevel history of a Pleistocene coastal alluvial fan, Punta Chueca, Sonora. Lethaia 21: 257-270. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1986. Taphonomic feedback in Miocene assemblages: Testing the role of dead hardparts in benthic communities. Palaios 1: 239-255. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., F.T. Furisch, and T. Aigner, 1986. Conceptual framework for the analysis and classification of fossil concentrations. Palaios 1: 228-238. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1986. Models for fossil concentrations: Paleobiological implications. Paleobiology 12: 6-24. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M. 1985. Palaeobiological and sedimentological implications of fossil concentrations. Nature 318: 487-460. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., and T. Aigner, 1985. Sedimentary dynamics of complex shell beds: Implications for ecologic and evolutionary patterns. In U. Bayer and A. Seilacher, eds., Sedimentary and Evolutionary Cycles. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 382-395. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., and D. Jablonski, 1983. Taphonomic feedback: Ecological consequences of shell accumulation. In M.J.S. Tevesz and P.L. McCall, eds., Biotic Interactions in Recent and Fossil Benthic Communities. New York: Plenum Press, 195-248. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1982. Time scales of fossil accumulation: Patterns from Miocene benthic assemblages. Proc. Third North Amer. Paleontol. Conv. 1: 295-300. [pdf link]
Regional stratigraphy - mostly sequence analysis, mostly Maryland Miocene and California Neogene (see section above on skeletal concentrations for more about stratigraphic condensation)
Kidwell, S.M., 1984. Outcrop features and origin of basin margin unconformities in the lower Chesapeake Group (Miocene), Atlantic Coastal Plain. In J.S. Schlee, ed., Interregional Unconformities and Hydrocarbon Accumulation. Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 36:37-56. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., J.A. Moore, and J.R. Moore, 1985. Inexpensive field technique for polyester resin peels of structures in unconsolidated sediments. Marine Geology 64: 351-359. [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1988. Reciprocal sedimentation and non-correlative hiatuses across marine-paralic siliciclastics: Miocene outcrop evidence. Geology 16: 609-612. [includes marine bone beds] [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1989. Stratigraphic condensation of marine transgressive records: origin of major shell deposits in the Miocene of Maryland. Jour. Geology. 97: 1-24. [includes marine bone beds] [pdf link]
Kidwell, S.M., 1997. Anatomy of extremely thin marine sequences landward of a passive-margin hinge zone: Neogene Calvert Cliffs succession, Maryland. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 67B: 322-340. [pdf link]
Winker, C.D., and S.M. Kidwell, 1986. Paleocurrents of the Pliocene Colorado delta plain, Fish Creek-Vallecito Basin, southern California: Implications for paleogeography of the early northern Gulf of California. Geology 14 (9): 788-791. [pdf link]
Kerr, D.R., and S.M. Kidwell, 1991. Late Cenozoic sedimentation and tectonics, western Salton Trough, California. In Geological Excursions in Southern California and Mexico (M.J. Walawender & B.B. Hanan, eds.). Guidebook 1991 Annual Meeting Geological Society of America, San Diego, California, p. 397-416b.
Winker, C.D., and S.M. Kidwell, 1996. Stratigraphy of a marine rift basin: Neogene of the western Salton Trough, California. In P.L. Abbott, J.D. Cooper, eds., Field Conference Guide 1996 (Annual meeting Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, Soc. Econ. Paleont. Mineral.): Pacific Section A.A.P.G., Guide Book 73; Pacific Section S.E.P.M., Book 80, p. 295-336.
Dorsey, R.J., and S.M. Kidwell, 1999. Mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentation on a tectonically active margin: example from the Pliocene of Baja California Sur, Mexico. Geology 27: 935-938. [pdf link]
Courses since 2000:
Physical Sciences 11000: Environmental History of the Earth (labs, non-science majors): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008 Attached is a lab developed to show students how sedimentary records can be used to reconstruct ecological history over centennial to millennial scales and infer the likely influence of human activities, using the Chesapeake Bay as an exemplar estuarine system. [pdf 1] [pdf 2]
Geophysical Sciences 28300 (pre-2008 course number GEOS 22200): Principles of Stratigraphy (labs, fieldtrip): 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007
Geophysical Sciences 28002, 29002 Field Course in Modern and Ancient Environments (winter seminar followed by 7-10-day fieldtrip over springbreak): 2003 San Salvador led by AM Ziegler; 2005 Cholla Bay, Sonora, co-led with M. LaBarbera; 2007 San Salvador, Bahamas; 2008 Cambrian of Nevada & Arizona, co-led with M. Webster
Geophysical Sciences 36700 (pre-2008 course number GEOS 31800): Taphonomy (graduate course with research project): 2002, 2004, 2006
Geophysical Sciences 38400 (pre-2008 course number GEOS 31500): Topics in Biosedimentology (graduate seminar): 2002, 2006 & 2007 sequence stratigraphy, with fieldtrip to Maryland Miocene in 2002 & 2006; 2002 sedimentology of continental shelves; 2003 intro to macroecology; 2003 marine community ecology (2 quarters); 2004 tectonically active basins with fieldtrip to Neogene of Salton Trough, CA; 2004 marine benthic abundance; 2004 terrestrial historical ecology
Geophysical Sciences 36900 (pre-2008 course number GEOS 31900): Topics in Paleobiology co-led with D Jablonski (graduate seminar): 2005 macro- and historical ecology; 2006 scaling of short- to long-term processes; 2007 biogeography
Theses & dissertations advised:
Alison A. Hess (M.S. 1985 Univ. Arizona). "Chertification of the Redwall Limstone (Mississippian), Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona." [now Senior Project Manager for the Hudson River Superfund Site, Environmental Protection Agency, NYC] http://www.epa.gov/hudson/history_background.pdf
Dennis E. Sylvia (M.S. 1985 Univ. Arizona). "Stratigraphy, paleoenvironments, and geohistory analysis of the Mississippian Redwall Limestone and coeval strata, Arizona and Nevada." [USAF; now PhD program, Univ. Texas Austin]
Richard D. Norris (1985 M.S. Univ. Arizona). "Taphonomic gradients in shelf fossil assemblages: Pliocene Purisima Formation, California" [PhD 1990 Harvard Univ.; now Professor, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, UCSD] http://sio.ucsd.edu/Profile/index.php?who=rnorris
Nancy Beckvar (1986 M.S. Univ. Arizona). "Stratigraphy, taphonomy, and faunal-substrate relations in a Pleistocene marine terrace near Punta Chueca, Sonora, Mexico". [now aquatic contaminants research, National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration, Seattle]
Charles D. Winker (PhD 1987, Univ. Arizona) "Neogene stratigraphy of the Fish Creek-Vallecito section, southern California: Implications for early history of the northern Gulf of California and Colorado Delta", 494p. [supported by NSF-EAR and NSF-PYI grants; 1988 Best Paper Award, Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol.; Senior Research Geologist, Shell International Exploration and Production, Houston]
Steven M. Holland (PhD 1990, Univ. Chicago) "Distiguishing tectonic and eustatic controls on foreland basin stratigraphy: Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati Arch and Appalachian Basin", 390 p. [NSF Graduate Fellowship; supported by NSF-PYI grant; 1990-1991, University Post-Doctoral Fellow, Ohio State Univ.; James Wilson Award, SEPM 2000; Charles Schuchert Award, Paleontological Society, 2003; now Professor, University of Georgia, Athens] http://www.gly.uga.edu/holland/holland.html
Eric D. Gyllenhaal (PhD 1991, Univ. Chicago) "How accurately can paleo-precipitation and climatic change be interpreted from subaerial disconformities?", 530p. [NSF Graduate Fellowship; supported by NSF-PYI grant; 1991 recipient of Univ Chicago Galler Award for best dissertation, Division of Physical Sciences; 1991 - 1996, Education Dept., Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; 1996 - present Selinda Research Associates -- museum evaluations] http://www.selindaresearch.com/gyllenhaal2.htm
Raymond R. Rogers (PhD 1995, Univ. Chicago) "Sequence stratigraphic and taphonomic transect of the non-marine Two Medicine / Judith River interval (Upper Cretaceous), Montana" [1993 recipient of Romer Prize, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; supported by ACS-PRF grant; now Professor and Chair (Geology), Macalester College] http://www.macalester.edu/geology/People/Rogers/
Mairi M.R. Best (PhD 2000, Univ. Chicago) "Fates of bivalve skeletal carbonate in tropical siliciclastics and carbonates, Caribbean Panama" [1995 and 1996 recipient of Smithsonian Institution Pre-Doctoral Fellowships; supported by NSF-EAR grant; 2001-present Assistant Professor Dept Earth Sciences, McGill University; now on leave as Science Director, Canadian NEPTUNE project, Victoria, BC] http://www.neptunecanada.ca/people/MairiBest_bio.htm
Francesca A. Smith (MS 1996, PhD 2002, Univ. Chicago) "Carbon isotopic record of grass phytoliths as indicators of CO2 levels during paleoclimatic change, Miocene to Recent North America" [1996 EPA STAR doctoral Fellowship; 2000 & 2001 recipient of Hutchinson Botany Fellowship, Univ. Chicago; post-doctoral fellow Pennsylvania State University in biogeochemistry; now Assistant Professor Earth Sciences, Northwestern University] http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/current/people/faculty/cesca/
Yael Furstenberg (nee Edelman) (MS 1996, Hebrew University; PhD 2004, Univ. Chicago). "Macrobenthic paleoecology of high-productivity marine environments, Cretaceous of Israel and Recent of Namibia" [supported by ACS-PRF and US/Israel Binational Science Foundation grants; now Research Geologist, Geological Survey of Israel] http://www.gsi.gov.il/Eng/
Thomas A. Rothfus (PhD 2005, Univ. Chicago). "Taphonomic damage, taxonomic identifiability, and preservational quality: implications for bias in paleoecological data". [post-doctoral research associate, University Chicago, supported by NSF-EAR grant; now Executive Director, Gerace Research Station, University of the Bahamas, San Salvador] http://www.geraceresearchcentre.com
Bjarte Hannisdal (PhD 2006, Univ. Chicago). "Inferring evolutionary patterns from fossil records using Bayesian inversion: an application to the Miocene of the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain". [supported by Norwegian federal fellowship for first 3 years; supported by ACS-PRF grant for final 2 years; now post-doctoral fellow, Centre for Geo-Biosphere Research (Norwegian Research Council), University of Bergen] http://www.geobio.uib.no/Default.aspx?pageid=980
Rebecca A. Terry (PhD 2008, Univ. Chicago). "Raptors, rodents, and paleoecology: Recovering ecological baselines from Great Basin caves" [2003 recipient NSF graduate fellowship, 2005 recipient EPA STAR fellowship; 2007 National Geographic Society grant in support of research; 2007 recipient of Romer Prize, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; 2008-2010 NOAA post-doctoral fellow, Stanford University] http://home.uchicago.edu/~rcterry/
Joshua E. Miller (PhD candidate, 5h year). Taphonomy of temperate large- mammal death assemblages: a live-dead analysis of Yellowstone National Park and historical ecological change. [2004 recipient of NSF graduate fellowship, 2006 NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant]
http://home.uchicago.edu/~millerjh/index.html
Christina Belanger (PhD candidate, 3rd year). Physiological and community- level responses of mollusks to climate warming, Miocene of Oregon [2006 recipient of NSF graduate fellowship]
Mara Brady (pre-candidacy, 2nd year). Variation in discontinuity surfaces and skeletal concentrations as a function of stratigraphic thickness in carbonate sedimentary records (Devonian): nature and origin of thin records
Education:
1976 B.S. Highest Honors, College of William and Mary (Geology)
1978 M.S., Yale University (Geology & Geophysics)
1982 Ph.D., Yale University (Geology & Geophysics)
Employment:
1981-1985 Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
1985-1987 Adjunct Assistant Professor, as above
1985-1988 Assistant Professor, Department of Geophysical Sciences, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, and the College, University of Chicago
1988-1994 Associate Professor, as above
1994-2003 Professor, as above
2003-present William Rainey Harper Professor, as above
Honors:
Summer 1984 Visiting Scientist, Institüt fur Paläontologie, Universität Tübingen
1986 Presidential Young Investigator, National Science Foundation
1994 - 1996 Distinguished Speaker, Paleontological Society
1995 Charles Schuchert Award, Paleontological Society
1999 Quantrell Prize for Undergraduate Teaching, Univ. Chicago
2000 Edwin Allday Lectureship (Univ Texas, Austin)
2001 Convocation speaker, University of Chicago
2002 Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
2003 Appointed William Rainey Harper Professor, Univ. Chicago
2004 Fellow, Paleontological Society
Others:
1989 to 1996 Associate Editor, Bulletin of the Geological Association of America
1989 to 2001 Associate Editor, Palaios (Society for Sedimentary Geology)
1995 - present Associate Editor, Paleontological Research (Paleontological Soc. Japan)
1995 - 2000 Member, National Research Council Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
2000 - 2003 Member, Science Advisory Board, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
2002 - 2004 Member, Advisory Committee for the Geosciences Directorate, National Science Foundation
2002 - 2005 Member, NRC-BESR working group, The Geologic Record of Biosphere Dynamics
2005 - 2007 Member, Biodiversity Science and Education Initiative (MacArthur Foundation & Smithsonian Institution)
2005 - present Research Associate, Dept. Paleobiology, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Campus:
1989 - 1995 Governing Committee, Physical Sciences Collegiate Division
1989 - 1996 Council on Teaching
1991 - 1996 College Council
1992 - present Chair, Student Advisory Committee, Committee on Evolutionary Biology
1993 - 1995 Council on Research
1994 - 1996 Chair, Provost's Task Force on the Quality of Student Experience
1996 Long-Range Planning Committee, Physical Sciences Division
2005 - present Women in Science Committee, Physical Sciences Division
2005 - present Chair, Junior Faculty Mentoring Committee, Phy Sci Division
Pictures of students
Early days in the Salton Trough (1985): Allison Hess & Charlie Winker at the Jackson Fork bar
More early days in the Trough (1984): Nancy Beckvar, stranger + Charlie Winker leaning over engine of C's Jeep, then-undergrad John Moore
Back on the rim of the Grand Canyon, post-hike June 1993:
Back on the rim of the Grand Canyon, March 2005: Josh Miller, Bjarte Hannisdal, Paul Harnik, Rahul Chopra, Guil Gualda, SK (missing from photo = Tom Rothfus)
At the bottom of the Grand Canyon, March 2008: Kathyrn Larson, Melanie Hopkins, Christina Belanger, SK, Mara Brady, Marion Myers, David Bapst
On the rim of the Canyon, 2008: Adam Tomasovych, Melanie Hopkins, Mara Brady, David Bapst, Kathryn Larson, Christina Belanger, Hilary Christensen, Marion Myers
Genuflecting the Maryland Miocene, June 2006: Melanie Hopkins, Christina Belanger, Bjarte Hannisdal, Paul Harnik
Saying welcome to Adam (left) & so long to Bjarte & Tom, November 2006:
2006 GSA reunion: with Tom Rothfus & Mairi Best
2006 GSA Yael Furstenberg & Mairi Best:
Post-defense dinner 2006: Bjarte Hannisdal, SK, Steve Holland, Inger-Lena Gassemyr
In the Salton Trough, 2004: SK, Josh Miller, Becca Terry, Tom Rothfus:
