Postdoctoral Fellow working with Naomi Levin
About
Axelle dedicates her research to paleoenvironmental reconstruction, focusing on freshwater ecosystems in intertropical Africa in Neogene and Quaternary sites. Her research mainly involves the study of the tropical freshwater vertebrates (such as fish, turtles, crocodiles, and hippos) using stable oxygen isotopes, faunal assemblage, skeletal growth, and functional anatomy. She works on fossil material and calibrates her approaches on modern species.
With her current project, Axelle aims to develop an original approach to answer our need to reconstruct change in aridity with precision in archaeological and paleontological contexts. She will build a modern reference database of triple oxygen isotopes data on modern crocodilian species. This calibration is a crucial step before being able to use this technique on fossil crocodilians teeth and better understand changes in water availability in past environments. This work is funded by the Franco-American Fulbright Commission, as part of the Visitor Scholar program.
