Current Members

Philip Donoghue, Professor in Palaeobiology



Postdoctoral Associates

  • Duncan Murdock (2008-2012; NERC) Shedding synchrotron light on early plant evolution
  • Imran Rahman (2010-; NERC Fellow) Early echinoderm evolution
  • Martin Rücklin (2008- ; EU-MC IEF then NERC) The development and evolution of teeth and jaws at the origin of jawed vertebrates

Graduate Students: PhD
  • Jennifer Greenwood (2008- ; UoB Scholarship) Developmental evolution of neural crest and the emergence of vertebrate complexity
  • Rachel Warnock (2009- ; NERC) Integrating palaeontological and molecular methods of telling evolutionary time
  • Fleur Noailles (2009-) the evolutionary relationship of carpoids
  • Anthony Hancy (2011-; NERC) Ecology and evolution of the Ediacara Biota
  • Joe Keating (2012-; NERC) Evolution of the vertebrate skeleton

Lab Alumni

Postdoctoral Researchers:


Graduate Students: PhD
  • Duncan Murdock (2008-2012; NERC) Decoding the small shelly faunas and the origin of phyla
  • Gai Zhi-kun (2006- 2011: Tomographic analysis of the galeaspid cranium) Researcher, IVPP Beijing, China
  • Ceri Thomas (2006-2011: Decoding the fossil record of embryonic development) now with IOP Bristol
  • James Tarver (2005-2009: Growth of systematic knwoledge) Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol
  • Graeme Lloyd (2004-2008: Rates of character evolution) Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford
  • Robert Sansom (2004-2008: Palaeobiology of extinct armoured vertebrates) NERC Research Fellow, University of Bath
  • Rosie Jassi (2001-2008: Palaeobiology of complex conodonts) Canadian Geological Survey
  • Jason Downs (2003-2005: Skeletal histology of placoderms) Postdoctoral Researcher at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences
  • Colin Barras (2002-2005: The origin and diversification of irregular echinoids) Freelance science journalist
  • Linda Wickström (2000-2005: Life and death in the Lower Palaeozoic) Swedish Geological Survey

Graduate Students: MSc
  • Edine Pape (2011-2012: Evolution of the actinopterygian dermal skeleton) currently undertaking a PhD at Leeds University
  • Wendy der Boer (2011-2012: Placoderm feeding and functional analysis) currently undertaking a PhD at Uppsala University
  • Giannis Kesidis (2011-2012: Evolutionary origins of the vertebrate skeleton)
  • Peter Adamson (2011-2012: Origin of animal biomineralization) currently undertaking a PhD at Cambridge University
  • Sandy Hetherington (2011-2012: Independent origins of multicellularity and the exploration of organismal disparity) currently undertaking a PhD at Oxford University
  • Sam Giles (2010-2011: Evolution of the placoderm dermal skeleton) currently undertaking a PhD at Oxford University
  • Andrew Pierce (2010-2011: Calibrating and constraining the molecular clock)
  • John Clarke (2009-2010: Establishing a timescale for plant evolution) currently undertaking a PhD at Oxford University
  • Nancy Scott (2009-2010: Dating whole genome duplication events in vertebrate evolutionary history) currently undertaking a PhD at Dartmouth College
  • Aodhán Butler (2008-2009: Experimental taphonomy of Artemia: analysing microbial controls on the preservation of soft tissue) subsequently a researcher at NHM, London, currently undertaking a PhD at Uppsala University, Sweden
  • Chloe Marquart (2007-2008: The nature of aspidin, the earliest vertebrate skeletonising tissue) currently undertaking a PhD at Cambridge University
  • Jenny Greenwood (2006-2007: Patterns of morphospace occupation in early vertebrates) currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Bristol
  • Kieran Hardman (2006-2007: Patterns of morphospace occupation in early vertebrates)
  • Jen Hoyal Cuthill (2005-2006: Patterns in the distribution of homoplasy) PhD at the University of Cambridge, currently a postdoc at the University of Sydney, Australia
  • Ceri-Wyn Thomas (2005-2006: Decoding the fossil record of embryology at the dawn of animal evolution) PhD at the University of Bristol, currently working with IOP Bristol
  • Sarah Vinnell (2005-2006: Histology, apparatus architecture and homologies of Coelocerodontus: implications for conodont intrarelationships)
  • Andrew Gillis (2004-2005: Evolution of chondrichthyan tooth enameloid microstructure) PhD at the University of Chicago, Newton Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, now post doc at Dalhousie University, Canada.
  • Isla Gladstone (2003-2005: Testing hypotheses the hypothesis of a eurypterid influence on vertebrate evolutionary history) Curator, York Museum.
  • Tom Harvey (2003-2004: The cuticle structure and phylogenetic affinities of palaeoscolecids) PhD at the University of Cambridge, currently a postdoctoral research fellow, Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge.

Undergraduate Interns