I am interested in the evolution of jawed vertebrates, focusing on fish, both fossil and living. I'm currently studying how teeth developed in these groups, as well as the development of the shoulder girdle and the vertebral column. With regards to the latter two, I'm studying how different genes are expressed in the girdle and backbone, with a focus on the zebrafish, the shark Heterodontus, and the lungfish Neoceratodus. By looking at these genes we hope to recognise similarities in these regions across jawed vertebrates.
I did my undergraduate and Master's degrees in Canada, at the University of Alberta. They have an excellent Palaeontology program there, including Zoology and Geology courses. There were also a wide variety of palaeontological courses, so I decided to take them all to find out what kind of work I would like to focus on! I took Vertebrate and Invertebrate Palaeontology, Palynology (study of fossil pollen) and Palaeobotany. I was most interested in Vertebrate Palaeontology.
When I moved to Australia, I did a Ph.D at Macquarie University, studying the amazing Devonian fish site at Canowindra, NSW, collected by Alex Ritchie. I described the fish (with a colleague in London), and also considered how the fish lived and died.
After this, I was lucky enough to obtain two postdoctoral fellowships (including my current one) from the Australian Research Council. I find that as my studies continue, I become interested in more and more topics!
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