Edinburgh Vertebrate Palaeontology Research Group
Dr Steve Brusatte, PI
Steve is a Professor in the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland (UK). He has a BS in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago, MSc in Palaeobiology and MSc in Earth Sciences from the University of Bristol, and MPhil and PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University in New York. Steve works broadly in vertebrate paleontology and evolutionary biology, with a specialty on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of dinosaurs and other vertebrate groups. He has written over 140 peer-reviewed papers, six books (including the international bestseller pop science book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs [2018, William Morrow and Macmillan] and the textbook Dinosaur Paleobiology [2012, Wiley-Blackwell]), named more than 15 new species of fossil vertebrates, and has done fieldwork across the world (US, UK, China, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania). He is a keen popularizer of science: he is the paleontology consultant for the Jurassic World movie franchise, "resident palaeontologist" for the BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs program, appears often on television and radio, frequently delivers public and academic lectures, and has written many books and articles for children and the general public. At Edinburgh he leads the Vertebrate Palaeontology Research Group, co-directs the Masters programme in Palaeontology and Geobiology, advises postdocs and students (PhD students and undergrads), and teaches courses on geology and paleontology. More information on his research interests, publications, science writing projects, fieldwork projects, outreach activities, and teaching can be found on his website. Steve is a member of the PalAlba research consortium of Scottish paleontologists, public officials, and collectors working together to preserve Scotland's fossil heritage. His research has been funded by the European Research Council (via an ERC Starting Grant), the Leverhulme Trust (via a Research Project Grant and a Philip Leverhulme Prize), the National Geographic Society, and the Royal Society.
Dr Ornella Bertrand, Postdoctoral FellowOrnella is a world-leading expert on using computed tomography (CT) data to study the brain anatomy and neurosensory evolution of fossil mammals. Originally from France, Ornella did her PhD at the University of Toronto, under the tutelage of Dr Mary Silcox. Ornella is funded by a European Union Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship: Brain Evolution and The Rise of Mammals after the Dinosaur Extinction (BEMADE) (2017-2019).
Dr Mark Young, Postdoctoral FellowMark is a world-leading expert on thalattosuchians (ocean-living crocs of the Mesozoic) and a specialist on crocodylomorph anatomy, genealogy, and evolution more broadly. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, Master's degree from Imperial College London, and PhD from the University of Bristol. HIs postdoc is funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project grant and concerns how the neurosensory systems of thalattosuchians (a strange group of extinct crocodile relatives) changed as they transitioned from land to water. He supervises PhD and undergraduate students, and previously he lectured in several other Edinburgh courses. His research interests, publications, and CV can be found at his website.
Paige dePolo, PhD StudentPaige, a native of the USA, is part of the European Research Council-funded project 'The Rise of Placental Mammals: Dissecting an Evolutionary Radiation (PalM). Her PhD project focuses on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of pantodonts, a bizarre group of 'archaic' placental mammals that thrived after the dinosaur extinction. She did an undergraduate degree at the University of Nevada-Reno and completed her Master's project as part of the University of Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology programme, on the dinosaur trackways of the Isle of Skye (September 2017).
Sofia Holpin, PhD StudentSofia, a native of the Italy and a joint Italy-USA-UK citizen, is part of the European Research Council-funded project 'The Rise of Placental Mammals: Dissecting an Evolutionary Radiation (PalM). Her PhD project focuses on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of the various Paleogene 'condylarth' groups that are likely close relatives of modern odd-toed mammals. She did undergraduate and Master's degrees at the University of Perugia in Italy.
Zoi Kynigopoulou, PhD StudentZoi, a native of Greece, is part of the European Research Council-funded project 'The Rise of Placental Mammals: Dissecting an Evolutionary Radiation (PalM). Her PhD project focuses on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of taeniodonts, a bizarre group of 'archaic' placental mammals that thrived after the dinosaur extinction. She did undergraduate and Master's degrees at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.
Hans Puschel-Rouliez, PhD StudentHans, a native of Chile, is funded by a Chilean scholarship to do a PhD project on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of the South American endemic 'condylarths' and other 'archaic' hoofed mammals of the Paleogene. He did an undergraduate degree at the Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago and a Master's degree from the University of Bristol.
Julia Schwab, PhD StudentJulia came to Edinburgh as a PhD student in January 2018. A native of Austria, she did her undergraduate and Master's degrees at the University of Vienna, where she studied the inner ear anatomy of fossil and modern carnivoran mammals. Her PhD is funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project grant and concerns how the neurosensory systems of thalattosuchians (a strange group of extinct crocodile relatives) changed as they transitioned from land to water. Her project is supervised by Steve Brusatte, Mark Young, and Stig Walsh in Edinburgh, with external supervision from Yanina Herrera and Larry Witmer.
Will Foster, Master's Student
Will, a native of England, is doing a Master's project on the osteology of the tyrannosaurid theropod Qianzhousaurus sinensis. He is studying in Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Nikolai Hersfeldt, Master's Student
Nikolai, a native of Denmark, is doing a Master's project on dinosaur skull shape evolution and body size. He is studying in Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Kim Kean, Master's Student
Kim, a native of Scotland, is doing a Master's project on the Jurassic marine reptile fauna of Helmsdale (Scotland) and new dinosaur material from the Isle of Skye. She is studying in Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Pei-Chen Kuo, Master's Student
Pei-Chen, a native of Taiwan, is doing a Master's project on the lower jaw disparity and biomechanics of Triassic-Jurassic archosaurs, including some of the very oldest dinosaurs. He is studying in Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Jules Walter, Master's Student
Jules, a native of France, is doing a Master's project on the anatomy and relationships of the highly pneumatic Jurassic crocodylomorph Eopneumatosuchus. He is studying in Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Lab Associates
Dr Nick Fraser
Honorary Research Fellow, School of GeoSciences
Head of Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Scotland
Andrew Jones, PhD Student
Andrew began his PhD at the University of Birmingham in October 2014. His project on functional convergences between Triassic phytosaurs and modern and extinct crocodilians is supervised by Richard Butler, with Steve Brusatte, Emily Rayfield, and Ivan Sansom as co-supervisors. For more information, see his Birmingham webpage.
Dr Andrew Kitchener
Honorary Research Fellow, School of GeoSciences
Principal Curator of Vertebrates, National Museum of Scotland
Dr Stig Walsh
Honorary Research Fellow, School of GeoSciences
Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeobiology, National Museum of Scotland
Lab Alumni
Dr Hong-yu Yi, Postdoctoral Fellow (2014-2016)Yi was a Royal Society Sino-British Fellow (2014-2016) and is now a professor at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. She uses X-ray CT scanning and computer modeling to study the evolutionary of sensory organs among extant and extinct reptiles. By looking at the evolution of ears, noses, and eyes, she addresses questions about how adaptations to specific environments drive evolution. She is particularly interested in using inner ear morphology in snakes to better understand what environment snakes evolved in and why they lost their legs. Yi has broad expertise in quantitative methods in paleontology, including optimizing high-resolution CT scanning to study fossil anatomy, virtual model building, geometric morphometrics, and multivariate analysis. She has an undergraduate degree from Peking University and a PhD from Columbia University in New York, where she studied under Mark Norell at the American Museum of Natural History.
Dr Shaena Montanari, Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2017)Shaena was a Royal Society Newton International Fellow (2015-2017). She uses stable isotope geochemistry to understand environmental and biological signatures in extant and extinct mammal remains. She conducts modern experimental research on natural variations in carbon and nitrogen isotopes of modern omnivores, which to this point are mostly unknown. She uses museum and field collections from around the world for much of this geochemical research. She has Ph.D. from the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History and B.Sci. in Geological Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sarah Shelley, PhD Student (2013-2017)Sarah came to Edinburgh as a PhD student in September 2013 and defended her thesis in November 2017. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Birmingham and MSc from the University of Bristol. Her research interests are focused on the radiation of mammals following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction 66 million years ago. She is particularly interested in a group of mammals called ‘condylarths’: a wastebasket taxon of bizarre eutherian mammals that are probably closely related to the modern ungulates (hoofed mammals). Her PhD project on 'condylarths' (particularly periptychids and triisodontids) was supervised by Steve Brusatte and Thomas Williamson, and she is currently a postdoc at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, working with John Wible and a big team funded by NSF and ERC grants to study mammal evolution.
Davide Foffa, PhD StudentDavide came to Edinburgh as a PhD student in September 2014 and defended his thesis in August 2018. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pisa and MSc from the University of Bristol. His primarily research interests are the taxonomy, ecology and biomechanics of Mesozoic marine reptiles. His PhD project (supervised by Steve Brusatte Mark Young, and Kyle Dexter) focused on macroevolution, niche partitioning and form-function of synchronous ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and thalattosuchians from the Middle-Late Jurassic formations of UK. In order to do this he used various approaches including methods to quantify marine reptiles craniodental and postcranial morphological and functional variation.
Michela Johnson, PhD StudentMichela started her PhD in the lab in autumn 2016 and defended her thesis in November 2019. She was funded by NSERC in her native Canada to study the anatomy, phylogeny, and evolution of teleosaurids, one of the subgroups of the bizarre group of extinct marine crocodylomorphs called thalattosuchians. Her project was co-supervied by Steve Brusatte and Mark Young.
Elsa Panciroli, PhD StudentElsa came to Edinburgh as a PhD student in September 2015 and defended her thesis in November 2019. A native of the Scottish Highlands, she has an undergraduate degree from the University of the Highlands and Islands and an MSc from the University of Bristol. Her project focused on the early evolution of mammals and their closest relatives during the Jurassic. Central to her PhD was study of a spectacular stem mammal specimen from the Middle Jurassic (ca. 170 million years ago of Skye). Her project was supervised by Steve Brusatte, Stig Walsh, Nick Fraser, and Zhe-xi Luo.
Fion Ma, Master's Student
Fion, at native of Hong Kong completed her Master's project on oviraptorosaur dinosaur skull diversity and feeding in September 2018. Her project wasco-supervised by Prof Junchang Lu at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing. She studied as part of Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Matthew McKeown, Master's Student
Matt, a native of Scotland, completed his Master's project on the endocranial anatomy and neurosensory biology of the tyrannosaur Bistahieversor. His project wasco-supervised by Tom Williamson at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and Thomas Carr at Carthage College. He studied as part of Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Paige dePolo, Master's Student (2016-2017)
Paige, a native of the USA, completed her Master's project on the dinosaur trackways of the Isle of Skye in September 2017. Her project was co-supervised by Steve Brusatte and Tom Challands. She studied as part of Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Moji Ogunkanmi, Master's Student (2016-2017)
Moji, a native of Nigeria, completed her Master's project on the Middle Jurassic fishes of the Isle of Skye in September 2017. Her project was co-supervised by Steve Brusatte and Tom Challands. She studied in Edinburgh's MScR in Palaeontology and Geobiology.
Amy Muir, Undergraduate/Master's Student (2014-2016)Amy did an undergraduate research project in the lab and then a Master's project. Her undergraduate work focused on the endocranial anatomy (brain, inner ear, cranial nerves and blood vessels) of thalattosuchians, a bizarre group of sea-living crocs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. She then continued as a Master's student, studying the endocranial anatomy of tyrannosauroid dinosaurs, which was part of the lab's publication on the new Uzbek tyrannosauroid Timurlengia (PNAS, 2016). Amy is currently pursuing a degree in museum studies and a career in the museum sector.