EARTH
SCIENCES

Alex Dunhill

Contact Details:
Postal address:	School of Earth Sciences University of Bristol Wills Memorial Building Queen's Road BRISTOL BS8 1RJ UK
Office:	P
E mail address:	alex.dunhill@bristol.ac.uk
Telephone (external):	+44 (0)117 3315239
Telephone (internal):	15239
Fax:	+44 (0)117 9253385

Thesis title:

Sampling and knowledge of the palaeontology of the British Triassic and Jurassic

Names of thesis advisors:

Prof. Mike Benton, Dr Richard Twitchett (University of Plymouth), Dr Andrew Newell (British Geological Survey)

Source of funding:

NERC, BGS CASE funding

Start and finish dates:

October 2009-September 2012

Further Information:

I am interested in the effects of sampling bias on palaeodiversity studies and how this influences our understanding of key events in earth history. I am currently investigating sedimentary rock bias by testing and developing proxies for palaeontological sampling, using remote sensing and GIS techniques.

I am a STEM ambassador with the Bristol Dinosaur Project. The project visits schools, science centres, festivals and other community events around Bristol spreading the word about Bristol's very own dinosaur Thecodontosaurus antiquus.

For more information visit my homepage.

Publications:

Dunhill, A.M. 2012. Problems with using rock outcrop area as a paleontological sampling proxy: rock outcrop and exposure area compared to coastal proximity, topography, land use and lithology. Paleobiology, 38, 840-857.

Benton, M.J., Dunhill, A.M., Lloyd, G.T. and Marx, F.G. 2011. Assessing the quality of the fossil record: insights from vertebrates. in Comparing the Geological and Fossil Records: Implications for Biodiversity Studies (McGowan, A.J. and Smith, A.B. eds), Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 358, 63-94.

Dunhill, A.M. 2011. Using remote sensing and a GIS to quantify rock exposure area in England and Wales: implications for paleodiversity studies. Geology, 39, 111-114.

Dunhill, A.M., Benton, M.J., Twitchett, R.J. and Newell, A.J. Sampling and completeness of the marine fossil record of the Lower Jurassic of the Dorset and East Devon Coast, Southwest England. Palaeontology, in revision

Academic background:

MEnvSci - Masters in Environmental Science (2005-09), University of Sheffield
Masters thesis: A landmark analysis of tridactyl dinosaur footprints from the Middle Jurassic of the Yorkshire Coast, UK
Undergraduate thesis: Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Second Abden Limestone (Lower Carboniferous) near Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland
Advisor: Dr Martin Whyte
Awards: The Fearnsides Prize for reports on Geology and Earth Sciences (2008), The Laverick-Webster-Hewitt Prize for overall best performance in the final examination of a student reading Geology (2009)

Return to:
School of Earth Sciences home page: http://www.gly.bris.ac.uk/
Palaeobiology and Biodiversity Research Group home page: http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/