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PI - Postdoctoral Researchers - Graduate Students - Undergraduate Researchers - Lab Administrator - Alumni | |
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Stephanie E Pierce
Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor
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PI - Postdoctoral Researchers - Graduate Students - Undergraduate Researchers - Lab Administrator - Alumni | |
Postdoctoral Researchers |
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Peter BishopResearch AssociateOriginally from Australia, Peter has had a lifelong passion for palaeontology, geology and mathematics. He gained a BAppSc (Hons) in Geosciences from the Queensland University of Technology in 2012, completed his PhD in Evolutionary Biomechanics from Griffith University in 2017, and subsequently held post-doctoral research positions at Griffith University, the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Royal Veterinary College. Over this time he has studied many extinct animals including freshwater crustaceans, fish, stem tetrapods, lizards, early archosaurs and dinosaurs (avian and non-avian). Peter is particularly interested in integrating biomechanics with data from fossils and modern animals, using a rigorous, physics-based approach to examine the adaptive significance of evolutionary changes in the vertebrate skeleton. In his current role, his research focuses on the sprawling-to-erect postural transition that took place in synapsids on the line to mammals, where he is using biomechanical modelling and simulation to understand the anatomical and physical factors that influenced and constrained this transition. Since 2007, Peter has also been part of the Geosciences Program of the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, first as a student volunteer and more recently as an Honorary Research Fellow. Email: pbishop@fas.harvard.edu Select Publications:
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Robert BrocklehurstPostdoctoral FellowRob is a biomechanist, morphologist and evolutionary biologist, whose broad research interests revolve around the evolution of form and function in vertebrates. Rob was an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, before gaining a master’s degree in palaeobiology at the University of Bristol. From there, he moved “up north” to the University of Manchester, where he received his PhD. His PhD thesis focused on the mechanics of ventilation in archosaurs (birds, crocodilians and dinosaurs), and combined a range of experimental and computational approaches. Rob joined the Pierce lab to examine the evolution of the mammalian forelimb, and the morphological and functional transitions which occurred during the evolution of Synapsids. Rob’s focus will be on creating musculoskeletal models of the forelimb of extinct and extant taxa, to test changes in muscle function and joint range of motion. However, this project, in collaboration with Ken Angielczyk (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago), will ultimately combine the digital models with geometric morphometrics and both in vivo & ex vivo experimental data to test the functional and evolutionary implications of anatomical transformations in the mammalian forelimb. Email: rbrocklehurst@fas.harvard.edu Select Publications:
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Tiago SimõesAlexander Agassiz Postdoctoral FellowTiago started his career in his home city (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), where he obtained his BSc and MSc in Biological Sciences-Zoology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and began developing research on fossil reptiles at the National Museum of Brazil. He subsequently moved to Canada to pursue his PhD with Dr. Michael Caldwell at the University of Alberta, where he expanded his expertise on the evolution of lizards and snakes. Tiago's research interests include combining data from living and extinct species, as well as morphological and molecular data, to investigate deep time problems in reptile evolution. In recent years, he has revised previous phylogenetic and biogeographic hypotheses into the early evolution of lizards in South America and used high resolution µCT scans of modern lizards to assess the adaptive role of the temporal region of the lizard skull. Recently, he published the largest dataset ever assembled to assess broad-scale reptile relationships, finding the first ever agreement between morphological and molecular hypotheses on the early evolution of lizards. Further, he demonstrated that the major reptile lineages first evolved prior to the greatest mass extinction in the history of complex life— the Permian-Triassic Mass extinction. Currently, Tiago is investigating the impact of the Permian-Triassic Mass extinction on long-term evolutionary patterns in reptiles with Dr. Stephanie Pierce in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Email: tsimoes@fas.harvard.edu Select Publications:
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Megan WhitneyPostdoctoral FellowMeg is a vertebrate paleontologist specializing in paleohistology. Using microanatomical structures in the bones and teeth of fossil vertebrates, she works to uncover aspects of extinct animals’ biology that are otherwise lost in time. Meg gained her B.A. in Biology at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN (2013) under the supervision of Kristina Curry Rogers where her research in the bone histology of a baby sauropod inspired her to pursue a career as a paleontologist. Meg then served as a paleohistology lab technician before heading to the University of Washington to obtain her PhD in Biology (2014-2019). There, she worked with Dr. Christian Sidor, using paleohistology to investigate evolutionary trends in synapsid (mammal-line) fossils. Meg has joined the Pierce lab to continue pursuing questions in paleohistology that focus on terrestriality and the biology of early tetrapods. These projects will involve both modern and fossil osteohistological studies to gain a broader insight into how vertebrate life first occupied land. See Meg’s website to learn more about specific projects, fieldwork, and outreach! https://meganrwhitney.weebly.com/ Email: megwhit@uw.edu Select Publications:
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PI - Postdoctoral Researchers - Graduate Students - Undergraduate Researchers - Lab Administrator - Alumni | |
Graduate Students |
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Philip LaiPhil is interested in structure and function in the pectoral girdle and forelimb along the line to mammals. He plans to combine in vivo kinematics, ex vivo manipulations, geometric morphometrics, and musculoskeletal modelling to investigate the determinants of posture and locomotion ability. By probing the interplay between the soft and hard tissues of the forelimb locomotor module, Phil hopes to inform reconstructions of non-mammalian synapsids and shed light on the trends that led to parasagittal stance in the mammalian lineage. Email: philiplai@g.harvard.edu
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Mark WrightMark was a Master's student in the Erasmus Mundus Master Program in Evolutionary Biology (MEME), then a Research Assistant in the Pierce lab, and now a PhD candidate. He is interested in the evolution of morphological traits and connecting morphology to function. He is currently investigating the functional consequences of transitional forms during early mammalian evolution, focusing on the locomotory shift from sprawling to parasagittal gaits. Email: markwright@g.harvard.edu
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PI - Postdoctoral Researchers - Graduate Students - Undergraduate Researchers - Lab Administrator - Alumni | |
Undergraduate Researchers |
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Luann ZerefaLuann is an undergraduate at Harvard College concentrating in Integrative Biology with a secondary in Earth and Planetary Sciences ('21). Her thesis project involves using modern salamander and newt proxies to develop a framework to interpret limb bone histological variables across development and habitat changes. Luann is being mentored by Megan Whitney and her research has been supported by the Harvard College Research Program (HCRP), Harvard Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE), and the EPS Department. Email: lzerefa@college.harvard.edu
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Kim BoerrigterKim is an undergraduate at Harvard College, concentrating in Integrative Biology ('21), and broadly interested in why fish fins turn into limbs. Her thesis is a comparative kinematic study of four anglerfish pectoral fins: two species capable of 'fin-assisted walking' behaviors (benthic substrate locomotors) and two species of 'non-walking' anglerfish (pelagic deep sea swimmers). Kim is being mentored by Robert Brocklehurst and her research is supported by funding from the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). Email: kimboerrigter@college.harvard.edu
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PI - Postdoctoral Researchers - Graduate Students - Undergraduate Researchers - Lab Administrator - Alumni | |
Lab Administrator |
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Jared HughesIn addition to working with the Pierce Lab, Jared works with the Hanken (Herpetology), Ortega-Hernandez (Invertebrate Paleontology), and Davis (Vascular Plants) labs. Email: jehughes@fas.harvard.edu
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