Earth and environmental sciences
Unveiling Evolutionary Transitions: Vanderbilt Professor Explores Triassic Mammals’ Adaptations to Changing Environments
Apr. 26, 2024—By: Sarah Ward, Evolutionary Studies Communications Assistant Vanderbilt professor Neil Kelley assisted in a study which characterized the evolutionary response of 250-million-year-old (Triassic) mammals to habitat transitions. Their work was published August 2023 in the Swiss Journal of Paleontology, and it explores how similar mammals can react differently to the same environmental challenges. Kelley finds...
Vanderbilt Graduate Student is Getting to the Bottom of Worm Burrows
Apr. 26, 2024—By: Sarah Ward, Evolutionary Studies Graduate Communications Assistant Vanderbilt graduate student Katherine Turk and colleagues found that worm burrowing behaviors could have emerged earlier in earth’s history than was previously thought. Her work Archaeichnium haughtoni: a robust burrow lining from the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition of Namibia was published this January 2024 in Papers in Paleontology, and...
Evolutionary Studies pilot grant recipients reflect on last year’s research
Jul. 6, 2023—By Kelly Tingle, Evolutionary Studies communications assistant Last year (2022-2023), Evolutionary Studies at Vanderbilt awarded pilot grants to excellent proposals from four members of the ESI community: graduate students Samantha Schaffner (Biological Sciences, Patel Lab), Taiye Winful (Anthropology, Benn Torres Lab), and Katie McCormack (Anthropology, Benn Torres Lab) and Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Lin...
Paleontology Graduate Student Uncovers Lessons from Microfossils of the Grand Canyon
Apr. 7, 2023—By Dr. Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Kelly Tingle, graduate student in Simon Darroch’s lab (Earth and Environmental Sciences), just published a new first-authored article outlining some exciting discoveries related to microfossils found in the Grand Canyon. Vase-shaped microfossils were amoebae that exist worldwide and can provide some insight into early life on Earth....
Vanderbilt-led Group Discovers Divergent Function in Convergent Evolution of Form
Feb. 22, 2023—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator The classic idiom form fits function does not always mean that everything of the same form has the same function. That’s what a group of paleontologists have discovered with the help of fluid physics and preserved fossils. Simon Darroch, assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, led a...
Associate professor Larisa DeSantis to give prestigious scientific talk in Ireland
Jul. 13, 2022—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Larisa DeSantis – associate professor of the biological sciences & Earth and environmental sciences departments – will be giving the Royal Irish Academy Discourse Lecture on Monday, July 18th at 2pm central time. The Royal Irish Academy is good company to keep – including famous evolutionist Charles Darwin....
Vanderbilt researchers bring paleoecology into the 21st century
Jul. 7, 2022—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Science is an inherently collaborative endeavor. When a respected colleague courteously disagrees with your point of view, it can lead to great new papers, perspectives and collaborations. In that same vein, feedback from editors and reviewers of academic journals is an often-understated driver of new research directions. Assistant...