Negaunee Assistant Curator of Paleobotany

Research & Professional Interests

Download CV

Paleobotany, plant evolution, systematics, plant anatomy & morphology

Integrated paleobotanical & neobotanical studies of plant diversity & evolution.

The study of Mesozoic plants to improve understanding of the timing of events in seed plant evolution.

The evolutionary origin of the tropical rainforests & angiosperm plant lineages.

Paleobiogeographic & paleoclimatic history of the Cenozoic.

Negaunee Postdoctoral Scientist

Research & Professional Interests

• P-Reconstruction & systematics of enigmatic Paleozoic plants

• Anatomy, development, & physiology of fossil plants

• Co-evolution of plants & weathering

• Phanerozoic carbon & nutrient cycles

• Earth habitability

Negaunee Postdoctoral Scientist

My research here focusses on floras from the Early Cretaceous (± 110 Million years ago) of South America (Colombia and Ecuador). The goal of the project is to describe and understand these Early Cretaceous South American ecosystems and shed light on early angiosperm (flowering plants) evolution.

In the past, I have also been actively studying floras from the Permian-Triassic boundary of Jordan and how these peculiar plants fared during the most severe mass extinction event in Earth’s history.

Research & Professional Interests

• Palaeobotany, systematics and plant evolution

• Early Cretaceous floras and early angiosperms

• Plants during the P/T mass extinction

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology

Research & Professional Interests

• Cenozoic fossil plant systematics & evolution

• Paleobiogeography & assembly of extant biomes

• Paleoclimate, paleoecology

• Preservation & management of natural history collections & paleontological resources

University of Illinois Chicago

Master in Science – Biology. 2021 – 2023

Research & Professional Interests

Paleobotany

Lower Cretaceous floras from Colombia

Conifers and other gymnosperm’s taxonomy

Stratigraphy

University of Chicago

I am broadly interested in reconstructing land plant evolution through fossil, molecular, and morphological data. For my dissertation, I intend to use stomatal size in early angiosperm fossils to infer ploidy in relation to fitness and diversification.

Interests

• Two divas, blissfully unaware of living their best lives!

• Making their daddies happy every day

• We love cuddles, long walks, dog beach & peanut butter bones!