The Future of Palaeontology

Join us as we discuss where the science of palaeontology is heading, what new techniques are emerging and what there is left to discover.

Our panel of speakers includes:

Dr Ross Anderson
Senior Researcher and Royal Society University Research Fellow

Using exceptional fossils, Dr Anderson focuses on the evolution of eukaryotes (those organisms with membrane-bounded organelles), multicellularity, cellular differentiation, and animals, through the Proterozoic Eon (2.5-0.5 billion years ago).

Dr Frankie Dunn
Senior Researcher and NERC Independent Research Fellow

Dr Dunn’s research is concerned with understanding the origin and early evolution of animals and how the fossil record informs our view of those events. Specifically working on a group of organisms colloquially termed the Ediacaran Macrobiota.

Dr Luke Parry
Associate Professor of Palaeobiology and NERC Independent Research Fellow

Dr Parry’s research aims to understand a major event in the history of life referred to as the ‘Cambrian Explosion’, a geologically brief interval during which all of the major groups of animals first appear in the fossil record. Dr Parry primarily focuses on investigations of exceptionally preserved fossils from approximately 500 million years ago that retain delicate tissues, such as guts, muscles and nervous systems.

Professor Erin Saupe
Professor of Palaeobiology

Professor Saupe investigates interactions between life and environments over geological time scales, focusing on fundamental questions on the origin, maintenance, and conservation of biological diversity. More specifically, integrating biological data with information from the fossil record to elucidate the controls on community and species’ responses to environmental change across various spatial and temporal scales.

Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente
Deputy Head of Research, Museum of Natural History

Dr Pérez-de la Fuente’s research focuses on the palaeobiology of fossil arthropods, namely insects and arachnids. Dr Pérez-de la Fuente’s work focuses on the study of amber inclusions, the early evolution of defensive (e.g. camouflage) adaptations, pollinating relationships and blood-feeding parasite-host interactions.

Part of the Breaking Ground  exhibition programme.