Michael P. D'Antonio

Education

2021: Doctor of Philosophy, Geological Sciences, Stanford University

Dissertation: The structure and growth of arborescent lycopsids

Advisor: C. Kevin Boyce

2021: Ignite Certificate, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

Focus: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

2015: Bachelor of Arts, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

Concentration in Geology. Minors in Mathematics and Classical Studies

Thesis: The timing of terrestrialization of sessile organisms - a functional approach

Advisor: Hermann W. Pfefferkorn

Professional Experience

2022-Present: Postdoctoral fellow, Earth Sciences, Field Museum of Natural History

2016-2021: Graduate student researcher, Geological Sciences, Stanford University

2019: Visiting researcher, Palaeoclimate and Palaeoenvironmental Research, Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Frankfurt, Germany)

2013-2015: Undergraduate student researcher, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

Professional Recognition

2024: Phillips Lecture in Paleoscience, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2024: Top 10 Most Cited Paper 2022-2023, Geobiology

2023: Michael Cichan Paleobotanical Research Award, Botanical Society of America

2021: Isabel Cookson Award, Botanical Society of America

2020: Elective Fellow, Linnean Society of London

2020: Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in Mentoring, School of Earth, Energy, & Environmental Sciences, Stanford University

2019: Associate Member, Sigma Xi

2019: Future Leaders in Paleontology, Paleontological Society

2019: Stephen Jay Gould Award, Paleontological Society

2019: Bill Dahl Graduate Student Research Award, Botanical Society of America

2018: Graduate Research Fellowship (Honorable Mention), National Science Foundation

2018: Antoinette Lierman Medlin Award, Geological Society of America - Energy Geology Division

2015: Rose Undergraduate Research Award, University of Pennsylvania

2015: Distinction in Earth Science, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania

2015: Cum Laude, University of Pennsylvania

2014: Dean's List, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

Fellowships and Grants

2025: Field Work Grant, Negaunee Foundation

2025: Interdisciplinary Residency, Oak Spring Garden Foundation

2023: Negaunee Postdoctoral Scientist Fellowship, Field Museum of Natural History

2023: Michael Cichan Paleobotanical Research Award, Botanical Society of America

2023: LinnéSys: Systematics Research Fund, Linnean Society and Systematics Association

2019: Bio-X Travel Award, Stanford University

2019: Student Research Grant, Paleontological Society

2019: Graduate Student Research Award, Botanical Society of America

2019: Levorsen Grant, Stanford University

2019: Shell Foundation Travel Grant, Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University

2018: Antoinette Lierman Medlin Scholarship, Geological Society of America - Energy Geology Division

2018: Shell Foundation Travel Grant, Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University

2015: Summer Stipend in Paleontology, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania

2014: The Mellon Foundation Grant, University of Pennsylvania

2014: The Greg and Susan Walker Endowment for Student Research in Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania

2013: Summer Stipend in Paleontology, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania

2013: The Greg and Susan Walker Endowment for Student Research in Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania

Publications

D'Antonio MP. Cambial dynamics in the distal shoot of Sigillaria approximata Fontaine et White. Submitted.

D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. Structural and physiological constraints on arborescent lycopsid growth and establishment. Submitted.

D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Donovan MP, Herrera F. The structure and development of the stigmarian apical meristem. Submitted.

D'Antonio MP. 2025. Convergent evolution of the developmental anatomy of leaf abscission: evidence from the arboreous lycopsid Sigillaria. In press, Annals of Botany. doi:10.1093/aob/mcaf188

D'Antonio MP, Crane PR, Hotton CL, Wittry J, Herrera F. 2025. Sphenophyllales from the Mazon Creek flora (Upper Moscovian: Illinois, USA). In press, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/botlinnean/boaf043

D'Antonio MP, Hotton CL, Smith SY, Crane PR, Herrera F. 2024. Reconstruction of an enigmatic Pennsylvanian cone reveals a relationship to Sphenophyllales. American Journal of Botany 111(4): e16321. doi:10.1002/ajb2.16321

D'Antonio MP, Herrera F. 2024. New evidence of unequal branching in Stigmaria ficoides (Lycopsida). International Journal of Plant Sciences 185(2): 129-137. doi:10.1086/728642

D'Antonio MP, Breasley CM, Pfefferkorn HW, Wang J, Boyce CK. 2024. Stigmaria: on the substrate before in the substrate. Palaeoworld 33(4): 925-936. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2023.07.0005

D'Antonio MP. 2023. Atypical tracheid organization in proximal wood of late Palaeozoic Sigillaria approximata Fontaine et White (Lycopsida). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 203(3): 303-314. doi:10.1093/botlinnean/boad028

D'Antonio MP*, Ibarra DE*, Boyce CK. 2023. The preservation of cause and effect in the rock record. Paleobiology 49(2): 204-214. doi:10.1017/pab.2022.33 (*equal contribution)

Boyce CK, Ibarra DE, D'Antonio MP. 2023. What we talk about when we talk about the long-term carbon cycle. New Phytologist 237(5): 1550-1557. doi:10.1111/nph.18665

Boyce CK, Ibarra DE, Nelsen MP, D'Antonio MP. 2023. Nitrogen-based symbioses, phosphorus availability, and accounting for a modern world more productive than the Paleozoic. Geobiology 21(1): 86-101. doi:10.1111/gbi.12519

Herrera F, Hotton CL, Smith SY, Lopera PA, Neander AI, Wittry J, Zheng Y, Heck PR, Crane PR, D'Antonio MP. 2023. Investigating Mazon Creek fossil plants under computed tomography and microphotography. Frontiers in Earth Science 11: 1200976. doi:10.3389/feart.2023.1200976

D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Zhou W-M, Pfefferkorn HW, Wang J. 2022. Primary tissues dominated ground-level trunk diameter in Sigillaria: evidence from the Wuda Tuff, Inner Mongolia. Journal of the Geological Society 179(2): jgs2021-021. doi:10.1144/jgs2021-021

D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. 2021. Secondary phloem in arborescent lycopsids. New Phytologist 232(3): 967-972. doi:10.1111/nph.17641

D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Wang J. 2021. Two new species of Sigillaria Brongniart from the Wuda Tuff (Asselian: Inner Mongolia, China) and their implications for lepidodendrid life history reconstruction. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 294: 104203. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2020.104203

Zhou W-M, D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Wang J. 2021. An upright psaroniaceous stump and two surrounding pecopteroids from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora. Palaeoworld 30(3): 451-460. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2020.08.001

D'Antonio MP*, Ibarra DE*, Boyce CK. 2020. Land plant evolution decreased, rather than increased, weathering rates. Geology 48(1): 29-33. doi:10.1130/G46776.1 (*equal contribution)

D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. 2020. Arborescent lycopsid periderm production was limited. New Phytologist 228(2): 741-751. doi:10.1111/nph.16727

Teaching Experience

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

2025: Stones and Bones, Summer Session Practicum

2024: Stones and Bones, Summer Session Practicum

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

2021: Biology 148: Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems

2019: Geological Sciences 128: Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems

2018: Geological Sciences 128: Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems

2017: Geological Sciences 183: California Desert Geologic Field Trip

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

2014: Geology 100: Introduction to Geology

Mentoring Experience

2025: Elm Stoelinga

BA student, Arizona State University

PROJECT: Reconstruction of fossil rooting organs using micro-CT scanning

2020-2021: Catriona Breasley

MGeol student, University of St Andrews, Scotland

PROJECT: Testing the early ontogeny of stigmarian rooting systems

Museum / Collections Experience

2025: Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

2025: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, United States

2024: Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States

2024: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, United States

2023: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, United States

2022: Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

2019: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany

2019: Museum Schölerberg, Osnabrück, Germany

2019: Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt, Germany^

2019: Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

2019: Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States

2018: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, United States^^

2018: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

2017: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States

2013: Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom

2013: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States

Field Experience

2025: Wyoming, USA: Eocene paleobotany and paleoecology

2024: Wyoming, USA: Eocene paleobotany and paleoecology

2018: Inner Mongolia, China: Permian paleobotany and paleoecology

2017: Southern Florida, United States: plant systematics and tropical botany

2017: Death Valley, CA, United States: Earth history

2016: Bighorn Basin, MT and WY, United States: geology field camp, western North American stratigraphy and tectonics

Field Courses / Workshops / Short Courses

2018: Lower/Middle Pennsylvanian Coal Geology - Illinois Basin, Kentucky Geological Survey, IN and KY, United States

2017: Tropical Botany Workshop, University of Florida / Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami, FL, United States

2016: Geology Field Camp, University of Houston / Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association, Red Lodge, MT, United States

Conference Presentations

2025: D'Antonio MP. Leaf abscission in arborescent lycopsids. Oral Presentation, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, Palm Springs, CA, United States

2025: D'Antonio MP, Donovan MP, Herrera F. Structure and development of the Cormophyton rhizomorph. Oral presentation, 42nd Mid-Continental Paleobotanical Colloquium, Middletown, CT, United States

2024: D'Antonio MP, Hotton CL, Crane PR, Herrera F. Investigations of late Paleozoic plant fossil concretions, casts, and permineralizations using computed tomography. Oral Presentation, XI International Organization of Paleobotany Conference, Prague, Czech Republic

2024: D'Antonio MP. Application of computed tomography to Paleozoic paleobotany. Oral presentation, 41st Mid-Continental Paleobotanical Colloquium, Chicago, IL, United States

2024: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. Structural and physiological constraints on arborescent lycopsid developmental biology. Oral presentation, Mid-Atlantic Geobiology Symposium XXXI, Philadelphia, PA, United States

2023: D'Antonio MP, Hotton CL, Crane PR, Herrera F. Reconstruction and systematics of the enigmatic Pennsylvanian strobilus Tetraphyllostrobus from the Mazon Creek lagerstätte using computed tomography. Oral presentation, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, virtual

2023: D'Antonio MP, Herrera F. First evidence of anisotomous dichotomy in Stigmaria ficoides. Poster, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, virtual

2023: Herrera F, Hotton CL, Smith SY, Lopera PA, Neander AI, Wittry J, Zheng Y, Heck PR, Crane PR, Michael P. D'Antonio. Investigating Mazon Creek fossil plants using computed tomography and microphotography. Oral presentation, Midcontinental Paleobotanical Colloquium, Gainesville, FL, United States

2021: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Zhou W-M, Wang J. Sigillaria from the Wuda Tuff: the implications of new species and internal anatomy for lepidodendrid life history reconstruction. Oral presentation, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, Virtual

^Isabel Cookson Award, Botanical Society of America - Paleobotanical Section

2021: D'Antonio MP. New complexity in arborescent lycopsid cambial dynamics. Oral presentation, Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium, Virtual

2021: D'Antonio MP. New complexity in arborescent lycopsid cambial dynamics. Poster, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, Virtual

2020: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Pfefferkorn HW, Wang J. Primary tissues dominated proximal trunk thickness in Sigillaria: evidence from the early Permian Wuda Tuff, Inner Mongolia. Oral presentation, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Virtual

2020: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. Potential secondary phloem in Stigmaria and long-distance sugar transport in arborescent lycopsids. Oral presentation, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, Virtual

2020: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. Arborescent lycopsid periderm production was limited. Poster, Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Seed Grants Poster Session, Stanford, CA, United States

2020: Boyce CK, Ibarra DE, Nelsen MP, D'Antonio MP. Weathering, nutrient fluxes, and the long-term consequences of coal for the evolution of nitrogen-based symbioses. Oral presentation, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, Virtual

2019: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. The physiology of arborescent lycopsid cortex: insights from comparative anatomy and taphonomy. Oral presentation, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, United States

^Future Leaders in Paleontology, Paleontological Society

2019: D'Antonio MP, Ibarra DE, Boyce CK. Limitations on how land plant evolution could have impacted marine extinction and diversification via weathering and nutrient fluxes. Oral presentation, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, United States

2019: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. Arborescent lycopsid periderm production was limited. Oral presentation, Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ, United States

2019: Ibarra DE, D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK. Land plant evolution decreased, rather than increased, weathering rates. Oral presentation, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, United States

2018: D'Antonio MP, Boyce CK, Wang J. Doubling the known lycopsid diversity of the Wuda Tuff coal-forming flora, Inner Mongolia, China. Poster, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, United States

^Antoinette Lierman Medlin Award, Geological Society of America - Energy Geology Division

2014: D'Antonio MP. The timing of terrestrialization of sessile organisms - a functional approach. Oral presentation, Geobiology Symposium XXII, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Invited Talks

2024: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2023: Princeton University

Reviewing Activity

Annals of Botany

Applications in Plant Sciences

Applied Computing and Geosciences

Fossil Record

Geological Society of America Bulletin

National Park Service - Natural Resource Publication Series

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA

Education and Outreach

Guest Scientist, In Defense of Plants Podcast

Scientist, Skype a Scientist

Meet a Scientist, Grainger Science Hub, Field Museum of Natural History

Scientific Contributor, In the Field - Field Museum Member Magazine

Stanford Earth Volunteer, Bay Area Science Festival, San Francisco

Professional Affiliations

Linnean Society of London (Fellow)

Botanical Society of America

Paleontological Society

Geological Society of America

Google Sites

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