About meHello! I am an evolutionary biologist and palaeontologist interested in biodiversity and anatomy. I am a Lecturer in Biology at the Open University. My research uses the fossil record and living animals to explore the uneven distribution of biodiversity across the Tree of Life and through geological time. I have worked on crocodiles, marine reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, lizards and snakes, mammals and fish, to understand how diverse groups rise and fall, and how new evolutionary innovations emerge.
Currently I am a Lecturer in Biology at the Open University in the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences. Previously I was a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher based at the University of Bristol (UK), within the School of Earth Sciences. I have always been interested in natural history and the diversity of life. I first studied Environmental Science (BSc, 1st Class Degree 2010) at the University of Sheffield, before moving to Bristol to study Palaeobiology (MSc, Distinction 2011). I stayed in Bristol for twelve years, where I completed my PhD (Geology - Palaeobiology and Evolution) on the evolution of marine reptiles in the Mesozoic. From 2016, I held held three postdoctoral positions in Bristol, working on dinosaur evolution, the Triassic radiation of vertebrates, and now the evolution of tetrapod morphology more broadly. In 2020 I was promoted to Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, recognising my research contributions and commitment to students. I then moved to the Open University in 2023. |
