Photo by Florian Schindler on Unsplash
Understanding Evolutionary Transitions
The history of life is not a steady climb but a series of dramatic shifts. At the IPE, we investigate these major evolutionary transitions to understand how life adapts—or fails to adapt—to a changing world. By looking at biodiversity patterns over millions of years, we can identify the factors that drive biological innovation.
The Impact of Extinction Events
Extinction is a natural part of evolution, but its causes are often complex. Our research focuses on identifying extinction events and the environmental changes that triggered them. Through the study of fossil preservation and climate-driven ecological transformations, we gain insights into how past crises can inform our understanding of modern environmental challenges.
Paleoecology and Ancient Ecosystems
To truly understand a fossil, you must understand the world it lived in. Our work in paleoecology involves reconstructing ancient ecosystems in their entirety. We use geochemical analyses and quantitative modeling to determine how different species interacted with each other and their environment across geological timescales.
Global Significance of Local Finds
While much of our fieldwork is regional, the implications of our findings are global. By integrating research on biodiversity dynamics with global datasets, the IPE contributes to the international scientific dialogue on how life responds to planetary-scale shifts in climate and geology.
