Return to: Department of Geological Sciences | Ohio University |
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| PI | *Click on the name of any lab member for their email |
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Alycia L. Stigall, PhD | ||||
Dr. Stigall's research focuses on two primary areas of investigation: (1) elucidating the interaction between paleobiogeography, paleoecology, and macroevolution during episodes of biotic overturn, Paleozoic brachiopods are the main taxon of interest in this line in inquiry and (2) phylogenetic and taphonomic analysis of evolutionary patterns in Crustacea, particularly Spinicaudata ("Conchostracans"). Dr. Stigall's research program emphasizes developing quantitative methods of analysis, particularly developing applications of GIS methods for use in paleobiogeography, phylogenetic reconstruction, and paleobiologic inferences based on phylogenetic hypotheses. The overarching goal of these lines of research is to better constrain the long-term effects of invasive species on biodiversity change, a topic of concern for mitigating the modern biodiversity crisis. For more on Dr. Stigall click here or her research program click here. |
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| Graduate Students | |||||
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Nicole Dudei | MS Candidate, expected completion Spring 2009 |
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| Nikki hails from Wisconsin where she earned her undergraduate degree in geology with a concentration in GIS at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. For her master's thesis, she is applying her GIS skills to improving the implementation of boundary polygon techniques in geographic range reconstruction techniques as well as using genetic algorithm techniques to analyze the early stage of the Late Ordovician Richmondian Invasion by modeling the ecological niches of articulate brachiopods in the Oregonia Formation and equivalents in the Cincinnati, Ohio region. | |||||
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Robert Swisher | MS Candidate, expected completion Spring 2009 |
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Rob grew up in various states, but always loved fossils. He earned his BS in Geological Sciences at the Ohio State University where he completed a senior thesis on trilobites. Rob's master's thesis will emphasize an integrated environmental and taphonomic analysis of Late Ordovician brachiopod distribution. In particular, he plans to assess how paleoenvironmental parameters affect where species lived and the quality of preservation in the Waynesville, Liberty, and Whitewater Formations of the Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky region. |
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Bradley Walls | MS Candidate, expected completion Spring 2009 |
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| Brad is a native Ohioan and an alumnus of the Ohio State University where he earned a BS in Geological Sciences. For Brad's senior thesis, he described several new species of conulariids. For his master's thesis, Brad plans to combine sedimentology and paleontology to implement and assess methods of ecological niche modeling in the fossil record. Brad will characterize the sedimentology of Late Ordovician (Maysvillian) Corryville and Mount Auburn Formations and equivalents in the Cincinnati Arch region to predict the geographic ranges of articulate brachiopod species. | |||||
| Undergraduate Students | |||||
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Emily Callahan | BS Geology, expected completion Spring 2010 |
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| Emily will be joining our lab as an undergraduate research assistant in September 2008. She will be continuing work on developing an outreach website started by Jackie Smith and assisting the graduate students with the GIS work...and maybe also trying to figure out just what is going on with Platrystrophia auburnensis. | |||||
| Alumni | |||||
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Kaitlin Clare Maguire, MS 2008 | ||||
Kaitlin completed her master's thesis, "Paleobiogeogrpahy of Miocene to Pliocene Equinae of North America: A phylogenetic biogeographic and ecological niche modeling approach," in May 2008. For her research, she integrated analyses of evolutionary patterns in horses with sedimentological and paleoclimatic proxies, such as paleosol distribution to discern causes of biogeographic distribution and shifts during the Miocene radiation of the horses. Kaitlin presented her research at both national and regional GSA meetings and will publish her thesis results in two journal articles. Following graduation, Kaitlin joined a team of OHIO vertebrate paleontologists to conduct field work on Neogene mammals in Tanzania, and then began her PhD in vertebrate paleontologyin Fall 2008 at University of California, Berkeley in Tony Barnosky's lab. |
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Jacqueline Smith, BS Anthropology,2008 | ||||
| Jackie worked as a critical member of our lab group during the 2007-2008 academic year. Jackie contributed to the Cincinnatian brachiopod GIS project by handling data input, uploading data to the Paleobiology Database, and will begin creation of a outreach website. Jackie is currently working AmeriCorp for in the Reno, Nevada area. | |||||
| Kristen Everman, BS 2007 | |||||
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Kristen completed her senior thesis, "Characterizing Jurassic Spinicaudata of Antarctica: Systematic and Paleoecological Implications," in Spring 2007. As part of her research, Kristen earned grant funding from the North Central Section of the Geological Society of America and the Ohio University Provost's Undergraduate Research Fund. She presented the results of her thesis at the North Central-South Central Joint Sectional Meeting of the Geological Society of America Meeting in Lawrence, Kansas where she was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Oral Presentation Award. Kristen currently works as an instructor for Nature's Classroom at Templed Hills, Ohio. |
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Brandon Klingensmith, MS | ||||
Brandon defended his MS thesis, "GIS-based biogeography of Cincinnatian (Upper Ordovician) |
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