Qualifications
- BSc (University of Leeds)
- PhD (University of Leeds)
- PCAP (University of Hull)
Summary
I work on mass extinctions. Over the past twenty years I have been lucky enough to travel to >30 countries to collect rocks and fossils that help me and my collaborators understand what drove some of the greatest biotic catastrophes of the past ~444 million years. In the past few years have been working on three crises that occurred between the Middle Permian (~262 Ma) and end Triassic (~201 Ma) - an interval of extremes of climate, extinction and evolution. My focus has been the Boreal Realm of northern high latitudes and I have spent a lot of time in the Canadian and Russian Arctic and Svalbard. In a bid to do fieldwork somewhere warmer I am a Co-Investigator on a large NERC-funded project gathering data on evolution, extinction and environmental change through the entire Devonian Period in northern Spain.
Prior to moving to Hull I worked at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø, and before that, down the M62 in Leeds. As well as collecting rocks from interesting places, like many a geologist I like cricket and beer. I have qualifications in both!
I teach on Hull's Geology and Earth Science programmes. I am module leader for Earth Resources and also teach on Geoscience Field Course, Sedimentology, Earth Evolution, Geological Mapping Dissertation, and Environmental Impact Assessment, amongst others.
I am also the Schools Liaison Officer for the School of Environmental Sciences.
Journal Article
End-Permian terrestrial ecosystem collapse in North China: evidence from palynology and geochemistry
Zhang, P., Yang, M., Lu, J., Bond, D., Shao, L., Zhou, K., …Hilton, J. (2023). End-Permian terrestrial ecosystem collapse in North China: evidence from palynology and geochemistry. Global and planetary change, Article 104070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104070
An astronomical timescale for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction reveals a two-step, million-year-long terrestrial crisis in South China
Hua, F., Shao, L., Zhang, T., Bond, D. P., Wang, X., Wang, J., …Hilton, J. (2023). An astronomical timescale for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction reveals a two-step, million-year-long terrestrial crisis in South China. Earth and planetary science letters, 605, Article 118035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118035
Rapid marine oxygen variability: Driver of the Late Ordovician mass extinction
Kozik, N. P., Young, S. A., Newby, S. M., Liu, M., Chen, D., Hammarlund, E., …Owens, J. D. (2022). Rapid marine oxygen variability: Driver of the Late Ordovician mass extinction. Science Advances, 8(46), eabn8345. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn8345
Dynamic ocean redox conditions during the end-Triassic mass extinction: Evidence from pyrite framboids
Li, J., Song, H., Tian, L., Bond, D. P., Song, H., Du, Y., …Tong, J. (2022). Dynamic ocean redox conditions during the end-Triassic mass extinction: Evidence from pyrite framboids. Global and planetary change, 218, Article 103981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103981
Research interests
Mass extinctions through Earth history, with particular focus on the role of volcanism, global warming, marine anoxia, and acidification in Earth's greatest catastrophes.
Lead investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
Environmental change, evolution and extinction in the Triassic of northwest Pangaea
Funder
The Palaeontological Association
Grant
£5,861.00
Started
1 June 2021
Status
Ongoing
Project
Ecological response to environmental change in the Boreal Realm and the origins of three mass extinction events
Funder
NERC Natural Environment Research Council
Grant
£595,595.00
Started
1 August 2013
Status
Complete
Project
Volcanic and climatic impacts on Permian biota across Russian ecological zones
Funder
Royal Society
Grant
£12,000.00
Started
1 August 2015
Status
Complete
Postgraduate supervision
I welcome enquiries in all areas of palaeontology, palaeobiology and sedimentology, in particular those related to the study of mass extinctions.
Recent PhD supervisions:
Jenny James (2018-2022): Ecological Responses to Climate Change: Using the Common Ragworm (Hediste diversicolor) as an Indicator for Benthic Ecosystems
Charlotte Stephenson (2013-2017), Flora, Firesand Phytoliths: An Integrated Approach to Devonian Terrestrialisation