The Paleontological Society



dragonfly
Photo courtesy of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History

Paleontological Society Student Research Grants Awarded in 2011

Name Institution Project Title
Allen, Sarah
University of Florida

The Taxonomy, Paleoclimate, and Paleoecology of a flora from the Eocene Bridger Formation, Southwestern Wyoming

Beard, Andrew
Syracuse University

Reconstructing the habitat variability of an enigmatic bivalve from the Permian of Eastern Australia and Tasmania 

Brown, Rachel
University of California, Santa Cruz

Dietary Ecology of Coastal Coyotes (Canis latrans): Marine-Terrestrial Linkages from the Holocene to Present

Darroch, Simon
Yale University

Spatial Fabric of the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction; Developing Predictive Models for Biodiversity Loss 

Dastas, Natalie
Brooklyn College (CUNY)

Palynomorphs of the Clayton Formation, Southeastern Missouri, as Indicators of Time and Deposition Through the K-Pg Mass Extinction Event 

Demski, Matthew
University of Manitoba

Ordovician-Silurian Boundary Interval in the Williston Basin of Manitoba, Canada: Bio-, Litho-, and Chemostratigraphy and Faunal Turnovers 

Feser, Kelsey
University of Cincinnati

Delineating the unique effects of different anthropogenic agents on benthic community structure, St. Croix, USVI 

Friend, Dana
University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Geographic mosaics of variation in predation intensity by naticid gastropods and the evolved defenses in their bivalve prey: a test of the hypothesis of coevolutionary alternation

Hilding-Kronfors, Shari
Texas A&M University

Lifestyles of the Hantkeninids  

Hoerner, Marie
University of Chicago

Dynamics of the Great American Biotic Interchange from Stable Isotopes, Hypsodonty, and Microwear 

Kercher, Paige
University of California, Davis

Determining the effect of ocean acidification on brachiopod shell calcite  

Kita, Zachary
University of Nebraska, Lincoln

New stable isotope record of ecological change in the late Neogene of the western Great Plains

Kosloski, Mary
Cornell University

Ecometrics and risk assessment: using a taxon-free technique to assess ecological effects of the Plio-Pleistocene extinction on Busyconine whelks 

Levitt, Carolyn
University of Utah

Bone histology and growht of Chasmosaurine Ceratopsid dinosaurs from the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, Southern Utah

Light, Melissa
Miami University

Palynological reconstructions of early Eocene environmental and biotic perturbations in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming, USA 

Lively, Joshua
University of Utah

The Phylogeny and Paleobiogeography of Cretaceous Baenid Turtles  

McMullen, Sharon
University of Georgia

Sequence stratigraphic controls on fossil assemblages in the Middle Jurassic Sundance Formation, Wyoming, USA 

Meyer, Michael
Virginia Tech

When the worm turned: New insights into Ediacaran trace fossils through microchemical analyses 

Mitchell, Jonathan
University of Chicago

Ecological controls on morphological evolution: Phytosaurs as a case study  

O'Donnell, Kenneth
Virginia Tech

The paleoecology of phytoplankton at the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition and the radiation of modern phyla

Paul, Shubhabrata
University of South Florida

Selectivity of the Late Neogene extinctions in Florida  

Redman, Cory
Texas A&M University

Assessing the role of trophic structure in extinction patterns during the Cretaceous-Paleocene Mass Extinction 

Taylor, Eric
University of Utah

Variation in Muscle Attachment Sites on the Hind Limb of Alligator mississippiensis 

Wan, Zhenzhu
University of Cincinnati

Carbon Isotopic Composition and Water-Use Efficiency of Early Devonian to Early Carboniferous Land Plants 

Webb, Amelinda Yale University

Comparing abundance and biovolume in modern and fossil coral reefs: Applications for conservation paleobiology 

Weide, Denise California State University, Long Beach

Freshwater diatoms as proxy for winter monsoon intensity in Lac Ba Be, Vietnam 

Werning, Sarah
University of California, Berkeley

Bone histology and growth in the largest marsupial mammal, Diprotodon optatum 

Winkelstein, Ian University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Reconstructing mid-latitude SST and seasonality in the western North Atlantic during Pliocene warm and cool climate states 

Zaffos, Andrew
University of Cincinnati

Many niches as one: Ordination axes and morphologic variability