Robert Sansom

Overview

I am a palaeobiologist interested in using the fossil record to address big evolutionary problems such as the origin and early evolution of vertebrates, and the Cambrian diversification of animals. More broadly I am interested how macroevolutionary inferences are drawn from fossil data, particularly the role of morphology in phylogenetics and the role of preservation and incompleteness in shaping our understanding. To do this I use a range of techniques from phylogenetics, laboratory investigations of decay and preservation, and direct analyses of fossil material. As such, projects in my lab include both experimental and theoretical approaches.

Biography

2014-
Lecturer, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester

2012-2014
Research Fellow (NERC), Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester

2011-2012
Research Fellow (NERC), Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath

2008-2012
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Geology, University of Leicester

2004-2008
PhD, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol and Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum

2000-2003
BA, Biological Sciences, St. John's College, University of Oxford