I am fascinated by the bidirectional interplay between plankton (palaeo)biology and the Earth's climate.
My research interests span taxonomy, palaeobiology, biomineralisation and geological applications of coccolithophores – a group of marine calcifying algae that have a pivotal role in the functioning of the carbon cycle over geological time and a fossil record stretching back 200 million years ago.
In my current DPhil research, I aim to understand the recent evolutionary history and taxonomic diversity of this phytoplankton group. My ambition is to determine the interaction between the morphological signal within deep oceanic sediments and of genetic variation in extant organisms by using a range of palaeontological techniques and state-of-the-art light and electron microscopy. In a broader sense, I aim to shed light on the evolutionary processes driving speciation in the open oceans as well as the associated rates over macro-evolutionary timescales.
I am funded by NERC-DTP and an Oxford-Radcliffe Graduate Scholarship (University College).
