Principal Investigators
Samantha Hopkins is a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. She earned her PhD in Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and joined the UO faculty after a one-year postdoctoral position at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in North Carolina. She is interested in examining the evolution of terrestrial paleoecology in the context of changing landscapes with a particular focus on changes across the Paleogene-Neogene boundary. She teaches several Honors College and Earth Science courses; see a list and her teaching philosophy here. | |
Edward Byrd Davis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and the Paleontological Collections Manager for the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. He received his Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. He divides his time between museum curatorial nightmares, teaching in the UO Earth Sciences Department, and paleomammalogy research. Topics of particular interest include the evolution and development of headgear in ruminant artiodactyls, changes in macroecology over time, and conservation paleobiology. Click here to learn about his teaching. Read his blog here. |
Graduate Students
Deanna Flores is a PhD student working with Dr. Hopkins. She earned her bachelor’s of science in zoology from North Carolina State University and her master’s in biology from Sam Houston State University. During this time, Deanna found her passion for research after joining a functional morphology and anatomy lab. Her background is rooted in biology rather than geosciences. However, her research interests in paleontology bring both subjects together. Deanna’s research has compared hyoid bones in both extant & extinct canids for her undergraduate research. Her master’s thesis looked into the faunal make-up of a previously understudied site on the Texas coast. Her current research looks at the heterogeneity of rodent faunas during the Arikareean in the John Day formation and the greater Montane West. When Deanna is not playing with fossils, she can be found spending time with her dog, Athena, contently working on a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle, or in the kitchen trying new recipes. | |
Madeline Ball is a PhD student who is working with Dr. Hopkins studying small mammal paleoecology. Madeline received her B.Sc. in Evolution and Ecology and minor in Biology from Ohio State. Madeline’s undergraduate thesis investigated the evolution and ecology of bite force in geomyoid rodents. She is interested in the effects of climate and floral community change on small mammal community ecology and the use of novel methodologies for making paleoecological predictions. When she’s not in the lab, she enjoys camping, baking, and visiting museums. You can view her personal website here. | |
Helena de Bastos Cruz Machado is a PhD candidate who is working with Dr. Edward Davis on Pleistocene horses. She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and her M.S. in Geopaleontological Patrimony at the National Museum (Brazil). For her Master’s thesis, she conducted a taxonomic review of the genus Equus in South America and now she’s working on a dissertation project on Pleistocene Equus and their relation with the Great American Biotic Interchange. Helena basically spends all of her spare time watching movies and TV series. | |
Will Coultley | |
Andrea Quintanilla is a Master’s student working with Dr. Edward Davis on a Miocene fossil whale from Coos Bay. She grew up in the east bay of Northern California and came to UO in 2017 for an undergraduate degree. Mentors Dr. Stephen Frost and Dr. Francis White influenced Andrea’s interest in the natural world and our place in it, as well as her curiosity for museum specimen care and bone preparation for curation. After earning a BA in 2021, with a triple concentration in Biological Anthropology, Archeology and Cultural Anthropology, (but mostly focused on Primatology), Andrea joined the paleo lab to help out with skeletonizing animal specimens for the comparative teaching collection. There, she started work as a temporary lab technician and learned how to prepare fossil specimens in the fossil prep lab. After almost 3 years working in and managing the UO paleo prep lab, she decided to pursue a Master of Science Degree in Earth Science, studying and documenting her preparation of a Miocene baleen whale fossil, named “Wally”, who was found on the Oregon Coast in 2006. |
Undergraduate Students
Finnian Mullally is an Earth Sciences undergraduate working on a research project with Samantha Hopkins and Deanna Flores on rodent tooth morphology and their impacts on taxonomy.
Caisa McGraw is an Earth Sciences undergraduate working on a research project on cricetid rodent dental variation with Samantha Hopkins and Deanna Flores.
Brooke Page is an undergraduate in Environmental Science with an interest in paleontology.
Postbaccalaureate Students
Thomas Hillard completed his B.S. in Earth Sciences and Biology in 2024 with a thesis studying the stable oxygen isotope values of modern and fossil mountain beavers to interpret water use strategies and is currently staying in the lab to continue the thesis for publication with Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Reuter.
Past Lab Members
Elena Ghezzo completed a Marie Curie postdoc with Edward Davis looking at remote sensing methods for locating fossils, as well as Pleistocene megafaunal paleoecology. She moved on to a position as a research fellow at Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics, and Statistics of Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (Italy).
Eleanor Froehlich completed her B.S. in Earth Sciences in 2023 with a thesis on camel ecology and biogeography in North America. She is now a Master’s student at the University of Colorado, Boulder
Rachel Lisle completed a B.S. in 2022 in Earth Sciences and the Clark Honors College with a thesis project on ecology of fossil sharks from the Western Interior Seaway.
Megan Pollak completed a B.S. in Earth Sciences in 2022 including a thesis on the morphology of fossil pinnipeds from the Oregon Coast.
Amelia Lawson completed her B.S. in Environmental Science in 2022 and moved on to a graduate program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Amanda Peng completed her Ph.D. in 2023 studying macroecological patterns of rodent diversity and disparity. She is now an Assistant Professor of Geosciences at Fort Hayes State University.
Paul Barrett received his Ph.D. in 2022 for his dissertation on the evolution of sabertoothed carnivorans. He is now a postdoc at SUNY Stonybrook working with Tara Smiley.
Kellum Tate-Jones received her Ph.D. in 2023 working on evolution of ecology in fossil pinnipeds. She is now the Executive Director of Refugium Consulting and Facilitation Services LLC.
Dana Reuter completed her Ph.D. in 2021 working on macroevolutionary patterns in mammalian dietary ecology. She is now an NSF postdoc in Biology with Rob Guralnick at the University of Florida and Michele Lawing at Texas A&M.
Shyla Davison completed her B.S. in Earth Sciences in 2020 after working on a project studying a Mascall Formation fossil site in the Crooked River Basin of Oregon. She received her M.S. from Fort Hayes State University and is now an Education and Outreach coordinator for iDigBio.
Megan Wyatt completed her B.S. in Earth Sciences and Biology in 2020 in the Clark Honors College with a thesis on geometric morphometrics of dentition in heteromyid rodents and is now a Ph.D. candidate at Stony Brook University.
Allie Thompson completed her B.S. in Earth Sciences in 2020 in the Clark Honors College with a thesis on the stratigraphy of the Mascall Formation in the Crooked River Basin of Oregon and is now working on a Ph.D. at Syracuse University.
Dylan Carlini completed his B.S. in Earth Sciences in 2018 in the Clark Honors College on mammalian body mass through time in Oregon. He completed a Master’s at the University of Arizona working on geochemistry and economic geology and now works as a geologist for Freeport-McMoRan.
Leonard Finkelman received his M.S. in 2019 studying the dynamics of the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions. He had previously earned a Master of Philosophy degree in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, where he wrote about species concepts in macroevolutionary theory. In addition to his research, Leonard teaches philosophy and environmental science at Washington Latin Public Charter School.
Holley Flora received her M.S. in 2019 studying the phylogeny of antilocaprids and the evolution and behavioral ecology of their headgear. She completed her B.S. in Earth Sciences at Montana State University in 2015 and is now working as a research assistant at Oklahoma State University in the department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Sierra Ching graduated in 2018 and was influential in streamlining the process for cataloging fossils and specimens.
Win McLaughlin received her PhD in 2018 working on the biostratigraphy and landscape evolution of fossiliferous regions in Kyrgyzstan with Dr. Hopkins. Along with dead squirrels, she studies how organisms and their environments respond to climate change and other ecological perturbations. She received her MS from the UO in 2012. She was a 2015 Fulbright Scholar in Kyrgyzstan! She is now an Assistant Professor at SW Oregon Community College.
Adrienne Chainey graduated with her BS in Earth Sciences in 2017. Her senior thesis was titled “New Bovid Material of High Elevation Adapted Fauna out of the Kochkor Basin, Kyrgyzstan”.
Genevieve Perdue received a MS in Earth Science in 2017 working with Dr. Hopkins. She completed her B.S. in Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity at UC Davis in 2013, after transferring from Santa Rosa Junior College. Her thesis focused on the evolution of cranial modularity and integration in the Caviomoph lineage of Rodentia, which is the mammalian lineage that gave rise to horse-sized rodents! She is a Conservation Specialist for the Blue Mountain Land Trust. Her spare time is devoted to environmental activism, equine pursuits, taxidermic dabbles, and futile attempts to grow a decent heirloom tomato.
Nicholas A. Famoso received his PhD in Earth Sciences from UO in 2017 where he worked on understanding how mammalian communities respond to volcanic events in the Cenozoic with Dr. Davis. He received his MS in Geological Sciences from the UO in 2013. Nick is currently the Chief of Paleontology at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. You can find his personal website here.
Meaghan Emery-Wetherell received her PhD in Geological Sciences from UO in 2016 where she studied diversity and variation in oreodonts with Dr. Davis. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at the University of Arizona. She co-writes a blog, Mary Anning’s Revenge, with lab alumna Amy Atwater and you can find her personal website here.
Selina Robson graduated with their BS in Geological Sciences and Psychology with a minor in Biology in 2016. They worked with Win and Dr. Hopkins on fossil mammals from Kyrgyzstan and completed a senior thesis focused on the new species of hyena from the area. They recently received a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary working on artiodactyl phylogeny.
Eva Biedron graduated with her BS in Geological Sciences and Biology from the UO Clark Honors College in 2016 working with Dr. Hopkins. Her thesis explored the fossil squirrels from a late Hemingfordian/early Barstovian locality in central Oregon. She is currently a Collections Manager in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.
Kendra Walters graduated with her BS in Geological Sciences and Biology in 2016 working with Dr. Davis. Her thesis investigated the drivers of mammalian species diversity in the USA over the last century. She completed a Ph.D. in 2021 at UC Irvine and is now a Lab Department Associate at Reed College.
Danielle Oberg graduated with their BS in Geological Sciences in 2015. They worked with Dr. Hopkins on fossil insectivores from central Oregon. They finished a Masters degree in 2019 at East Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas working on the ecological effects of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. They are now the Paleontology Lab Supervisor for Applied Earthworks, Inc.
John Jacisin III graduated with his MS in Geological Sciences from the University of Oregon in 2014, where he studied Oligocene fossil newts from Oregon with Dr. Hopkins. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Texas. View his webpage here.
Kristen MacKenzie graduated with her MS in Geological Sciences from the University of Oregon in 2013, where she characterized the biology and geology of a new Oligocene-Miocene fauna in southern Oregon with Dr. Hopkins. She worked as an assistant fossil collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History, and is now the Earth Science Collections Manager for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Savannah Olroyd graduated with her BS from the UO Biology department in 2013. She was an intern at the Field Museum in Chicago, where she studied the evolution and extinction of early mammals. She attended graduate school at the University of Washington, where she received her MS in 2016 and her PhD in 2022. She is now an Assistant Professor at Utah Valley University.
Kelsey Stilson received their BS in Geology from the UO Clark Honors College in 2013. In their thesis, they explored patterns of arthritis in the rhinocerotid lineage over 60 million years. They received an MS at UT Austin in 2016 a PhD in 2021 at the University of Chicago, and are now teaching anatomy as a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University.
Brianna McHorse graduated from the UO Clark Honors College in 2013 with a Biology major and Geology minor. Her thesis investigated the relationship between conformation and performance in three-day-event horses. She completed a PhD in 2019 at Harvard, and is now an engineering manager at Hidden Door.
Amy Atwater is a 2013 graduate of the UO Clark Honors College with a Geology major and Anthropology minor. She studied drivers of omomyid diversity patterns in her thesis and received her masters from UT Austin. She is now the Director of Paleontology at Dinosaur Ridge. She co-writes Mary Anning’s Revenge.
John D. Orcutt earned his MS in Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol and his Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the UO in 2011 with Dr. Hopkins. He was a postdoc at Cornell College (in Iowa), where he taught undergraduate biology and focused his research on Pleistocene biogeography. He is now an Assistant Professor at Gonzaga University where he is teaching ecology and evolution. You can find his vertebrate paleontology blog here. You may visit his webpage here.
Jonathan Calede graduated with an MS in Geological Sciences in 2010 with Dr. Hopkins and his PhD from the University of Washington in 2016. He was tenured as an Associate Professor at Ohio State University-Marion before returning to France to pursue another career. He remains a Research Associate of the Department of Earth Sciences.
Winifred Kehl graduated with her bachelor’s degree from UO in 2010. She is interested in scientific art and did a research project on a late Miocene mustelid. She went on to get her MA in Museology from the University of Washington in 2012. View her website here.
Christie Lowell completed her senior honors thesis, “Rates of evolution and diet activity patterns of mammals,” in 2010. She is now teaching middle school science in Georgia.
Aili Gusey graduated with her BS in Geological Sciences in 2010, she worked with Dr. Davis on a project investigating diversity biases of the published record of fossils. She worked for the US Forest Service in Oregon and is now working for the US Bureau of Land Management in Nevada.
David Levering graduated from the UO in 2006 with a BS in Geological Sciences. He studied Multituberculate disparity and KPg extinction ecology for his masters thesis at Oklahoma State University. He is currently Director of the Sternberg Science Camps at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Kansas. You can explore the camps program here. His ongoing research is focused on mammal locomotor ecology.
Affiliates
Theodore Fremd is a Courtesy Research Assistant and Curator with the Museum of Natural and Cultural History and the UO Department of Earth Sciences. He was the Chief Paleontologist at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument for 25 years, and his research focuses on the biostratigraphy and evolution of Paleogene and Neogene biota of the John Day Basin. Current projects include describing canids, nimravids, and the a Stibarus-like leptochoerid, as well as writing two new books.
David Whistler is a retired Curator from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, a mammalian biostratigrapher with an inordinate fondness for rodents. He is a Courtesy Research Associate with the UO Department of Earth Sciences.
Joshua Samuels is an Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University and a Courtesy Research Associate with the UO Department of Earth Sciences. He was the Chief Paleontologist at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument from 2010-2016. He is also interested in rodents, particularly beavers.
Jessica Theodor is a Professor at the University of Calgary and the current president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. She uses the fossil record of mammals, especially hoofed mammals (ungulates), to study long-term patterns of biodiversity through time. She was our Meierjurgen Visiting Faculty Fellow in Spring 2015. You can visit her lab page’s here.