Professor Emeritus
About
Academic background
A.B., Princeton University, 1968. Ph.D., Yale University, 1974. NATO postdoctoral fellow, Universite de Montpellier (France), 1975. Professor and Curator at University of Michigan since 1974. Director of the Museum of Paleontology from 1981-1987, 1989-2011.
Research interests
Mammals have an unusually dense and continuous fossil record, and are thus ideal for evolutionary studies. I am interested in understanding how evolution as a process, acting on generation-to-generation scales of time yields the microevolutionary and macroevolutionary patterns that we observe on longer historical and geological scales of time. A more detailed summary of my research interests is provided on my personal home page.
Teaching
I teach an introductory minicourse on primate evolution (Geological Sciences 106) during the Fall or Winter terms, and a more advanced course on primate evolution (GS 438) or mammalian evolution (GS 439) during alternate Winter terms. In each, the primate and mammal fossil records provide an empirical basis for consideration of broader issues in the study of earth history and evolution. I also co-teach to a new Analytical Paleontology course (GS 510) in alternate years, and contribute regularly to our Friday noon Museum of Paleontology seminar on paleobiology and evolution (Fall and Winter terms: GS 536). Finally, supervision of undergraduate and graduate student research on mammals and evolution is an ongoing extension of classroom teaching.
Research Areas(s)
- Fossil record and evolution of mammals
Affiliation(s)
- Museum of Paleontology
- Professor of Paleontology
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Department of Anthropology
Field(s) of Study
- Fossil record and evolution of mammals
Graduate student
