The Charnia Research Group
Dr. Helen Boynton (Chair), Dr. J. B. Antcliffe (University of Bristol), Prof. M. D. Brasier, Latha Menon, Dr. John Carney (BGS), Susan Cooke (Charnwood Museum), Mr Ian Evans (Natural England), Dr. Mark Evans (New Walk Museum, Leicester), Prof. Trevor Ford (University of Leicester, Emeritus), Dr. Mike Howe (BGS), Dr Jonathan Larwood (Natural England), Dr. Phil Wilby (BGS), Mr Dave Williams (GeoEd)
The Charnia Research Group was set up to bring together all groups interested in the geology, palaeontology and conservation of the Ediacaran outcrops of Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire. The group meets regularly to discuss the management, research and protection of the sites. Current work focuses on the casting of the bedding surfaces, for research and conservation purposes, supported and co-ordinated by the British Geological Survey and Natural England. This casting programme has led to the discovery of a much larger and more diverse assemblage of Ediacaran fossils than previously known, and the material will prove extremely useful for research in this area over the coming years. The moulds and casts are in the care of the BGS in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire.
The Oxford team is an active member of the Charnia Research Group, and we are involved in a number of collaborative projects with other members of the group. In recent years we have applied high-resolution laser techniques to the Charnwood fossils, providing us with a digital dataset which can be readily manipulated to obtain new information about the organisms and their growth. The image at right is of the holotype Charnia masoni, viewed using the laser dataset and lit from four directions.