Ancient plant communities and climates across Earth's most recent major global warming event
Alexander Lowe, Research Scientist
Museum of Paleontology
Applications for Fall 2026 are closed for this project.
This project reconstructs plant communities and climate using fossil plants from sites representing 30 to 10 million years ago. During this time, there are well documented global climatic changes happening, including a global warming event (Miocene Climatic Optimum) and a global cooling event (the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition). This study reconstructs how these global events impact terrestrial climate and vegetation in the western United States.
Role: Students will be involved in several aspects of the research. First, students will work in paleontology collections to properly curate fossil plants specimens, through cataloging and digital imaging (the bulk of the work). Once imaged, students will help with the classification and identification of fossils. Lastly, students will be involved with reconstructing the ancient vegetation and climate using the developed classification scheme. Sites can be compared to each other through time to identify patterns which coincide with global events.
Students will also assist with digitizing a modern cleared leaf reference collection, which is a critical resource in classifying and identifying fossil leaves. In addition, students will have an every-other-week meeting to read scientific literature about concepts in paleobotany, geology, ecology, and paleoclimatology.
Qualifications: This position provides hands-on experience with museum curation practices and is intended for students interested in paleontology, botany, geology, museum studies, or related natural history fields. The following is required: A careful attention to detail, strong organizational skills, the ability to perform repetitive tasks with accuracy, basic computer proficiency, the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively, and the willingness to handle fragile scientific specimens with care. Successful students are curious, dependable, detail-oriented, and enthusiastic about preserving natural history collections and advancing our understanding of Earth history.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Alexander Lowe, Staff Researcher
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Related website: https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/