People

Dr. Catherine Badgley

Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

I am interested in ecological, evolutionary, and geohistorical processes that influence the diversity of mammals in ecosystems and lineages. My research focuses on species richness and ecological structure of mammalian faunas from the scale of individual localities and fossil assemblages to major ecological regions and continents. A major research focus is evaluating the influences of landscape history (tectonics and climate) on regional diversification of mammals over the last 25 million years. A related goal is to assess causes of diversity gradients for modern mammals across regions and continents. A third research theme focuses on comparing the influences of different modern systems of food and agriculture on biodiversity.

Dr. Miriam Zelditch

Associate Research Scientist, Museum of Paleontology

Dr. Donald Swiderski

Adjunct Research Scientist, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

My research focuses on the relationship between morphological and functional transitions in both space and time. I use quantitative analyses of skeletal shape data to identify what morphological attributes have diverged between species or populations and how those morphological changes are related to changes in function or ecological role. Most of my projects have analyzed rodent jaws, especially squirrels, but I also am interested in locomotion and the relationship between locomotory and dietary transitions.

Dr. Lucas Weaver

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

My research program sits at the intersection of paleontology, geology, and evolutionary biology and aims to elucidate the causes and consequences of major transitions in early mammalian evolution, such as the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction. Using a combination of paleontological and geological fieldwork, systematic study of fossil collections, and analyses of the functional morphology, ecology, histology, and isotope geochemistry of modern and extinct mammals, my work scales from species-level studies of ecology, behavior, and life history, to ecosystem-level studies of biodiversity, tectonic and fluvial history, and climate. For more information, visit my website.
Lucas’ CV

Dr. Katharine Loughney

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

My research focuses on the connection between fossil preservation and stratigraphy on both local and basin-wide scales. For my dissertation in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, I studied the effects of tectonics and climate on the taphonomy of mammalian fossil assemblages in the Mojave Desert, California. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab, I compiled stratigraphic data for basins of the North American western interior to incorporate into reconstructions of topography for the past 36 million years. For more information on my research, visit my website.
Katharine’s CV

Fabian Hardy

Ph.D. Candidate, Earth & Environmental Sciences

I work on a variety of topics, including mammals from the Miocene (24 million years ago) to the Pleistocene (10 thousand years ago). My Miocene work focuses on how changes in faunal assemblages are related to geologic events, such as mountain uplift or climate change. The Basin and Range holds a fossil record with abundant evidence of regional changes in mammal diversity, and informs us about the biogeography of western North America. My background is in traditional geology, and I obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Geoscience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Mariah Schlis-Elias

Ph.D. Student, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

I am interested in the reciprocal relationships between agriculture and mammalian wildlife, particularly in terms of resource use, the structure of ecological networks, and agricultural producers’ perceptions and management of wildlife. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Michigan State University (2017), and my Master of Science in Biology from Austin Peay State University (2019). Previously, I conducted research on body size variation in island-dwelling meadow voles from a geometric morphometrics perspective. At UMich, I am a Rackham Merit Fellow who plans to use a combination of isotope analysis and DNA metabarcoding to explore dietary variation and trophic relationships among Michigan mammals in cultivated landscapes

Kaori Chambers

M.S. Student, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Megan Riley

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Project description: Identifying Paleocene mammal skulls (with L. Weaver)

Sofia Belabbes

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Biology major, Archaeology minor
Project description: Paleontological research concerning the species identification of a mammalian specimen found in the Denver River Basin, dated to the Paleocene era (with L. Weaver)