B.S. 2020 Purdue University (Planetary Sciences, Physics Minor)

Research Interests: Paleopathologies, paleozoology, theoretical and functional morphology

Personal Interests: Basketball, horror movies, microscopy

M.S. 2024 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

B.S. 2022 St. Lawrence University (Geology and History)

Research interests: Conservation paleobiology, climate change, morphometrics, carbonate sedimentology

Personal interests: running, reading, and knitting

Presentations:

Fitzgerald, E., and Nagel-Myers, J., 2021, Morphometric Changes in an Antarctic Nassariid Gastropod During the Eocene, Presented at 2021 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, 10-13 October. 

M.S. 2024 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

B.S. 2022 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

Research interests: Ediacara fauna, taphonomy, and conservation paleobiology

Personal interests: cycling and fossil hunting!

Current position: Interdisciplinary Geologist/Engineer at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Ph.D. University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

M.S. 2017 Ohio University (Geological Sciences)

B.S. 2011 Peradeniya University (Zoology)

Research interests: patterns of drilling predation, spionid and trematode parasitism on bivalves

Publications:

• J.W. Huntley, K. De Baets, D. Scarponi, L.C. Linehan, Y.R. Epa, G.S. Jacobs, J.A. Todd. 2021. Bivalve mollusks as hosts in the fossil record, p. 251-287. In K. De Baets, J.W. Huntley (eds.). The Evolution and Fossil Record of Parasitism: Coevolution and Paleoparasitological Techniques. Topics in Geobiology vol. 50, Springer.

• Y.R. Epa, A.L. Stigall, E.M. Roberts, H.D. O’Brien, N.J. Stevens N.J. 2018. Morphological diversification of Ampullariid gastropods (Nsungwe. Formation, late Oligocene, Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania) is coincident with onset of East African Rifting. Papers in Palaeontology 4:327-348.

• Y.R. Epa, N. Perera, K. Manamendra-Arachchi, M. Meegaskumbura. 2011. Sri Lanka’s Aruwakkalu fossil deposit dates to the Burdigalian age. Ceylon Journal of Science (Bio. Sci.) 40:163 -174.

Awards:

• G. Ellsworth Huggins Scholarship, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia

• First place: The Paleontological Society Graduate Student Poster Competition (2018) – Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Indianapolis

• Outstanding Graduate Student Award (2017) Ohio University, USA

• Professor F. P. Amerasinghe Gold Medal for Excellence in Zoology (2011). University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

• University Award for Academic Excellence (2010/2011). University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Personal interests: I am a collector of all sorts of things from shells to coins, minerals, and stamps. I love Cricket (playing it and learning about its history). I also love talking about invisible disabilities in academia.

Current Position: Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar/Adjunct Instructor, University of South Florida

Ph.D. 2022 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

M.S. 2017 Midwestern State University (Geology)

B.S. 2013 University of Chicago (Geophysical Sciences)

B.A. 2013 University of Chicago (Biological Sciences)

Research Interests: trilobites, silicification, taphonomy, and sedimentology

Publications:

• J.W. Huntley, K. De Baets, D. Scarponi, L.C. Linehan, Y.R. Epa, G.S. Jacobs, J.A. Todd. 2021. Bivalve mollusks as hosts in the fossil record, p. 251-287. In K. De Baets, J.W. Huntley (eds.). The Evolution and Fossil Record of Parasitism: Coevolution and Paleoparasitological Techniques. Topics in Geobiology vol. 50, Springer.

• G.S. Jacobs, J.R. Carlucci. 2019. Ontogeny and shape change of the phacopid trilobite Calyptaulax. Journal of Paleontology doi: 10.1017/jpa.2019.38.

Personal interests: Outside of the lab, I'm an avid reader, habitual gamer, and amateur baker. The Second City is first in my heart; Eamus Catuli!

Current Position: Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania

M.S. 2022 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

B.S. 2020 Appalachian State University (Geology conc. Paleontology, minor Biology)

Research interests: Conservation paleobiology, paleoparasitology, morphoecospace, and paleoenvironments

Publications: 

• Ryan, D.R., J.D. Witts, N.H. Landman N.H. 2020. Paleobiological analysis of the geologically youngest methane seep in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Western Interior Seaway. Lethaia https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12396.

• Ryan, D.R., Hageman, S.J. In Review. New quantitative methods for analyzing brachiopod shell shape: An exploratory study of the morphology of Cincinnatian Rhychonelliformea during the Late Ordovician Richmondian Invasion.

Personal Interests: Painting, block printing, crocheting, and graphic art. Spending time with two rescue pups when not working at the Missouri State Museum or school. 

Current Position: Curator of Exhibits at Missouri State Museum

M.S. 2018 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

Trace element composition and parasite-host interactions among estuarine bivalves of the Pearl River delta, China

Conservation paleobiology and human predation of the queen conch (Lobatus gigas) of San Salvador, the Bahamas

Publications:

• M.R. Ruga, A. Lanik, C.P. Hults. 2020. Focused condition assessment of paleontological resources within Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Natural Resource Report NPS/LACL/NRR-2020/2159. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado.

• Lanik, A., M.R. Ruga, G. Kouns. 2019. Paleontological resource monitoring at Fossil Point, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve: 2018 Field Report. Natural Resource Report NPS/LACL/NRR-2019/1941. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado.

• M.R. Ruga, D.L. Meyer, J.W. Huntley. 2019. Conch fritters through time: Human predation and population demographics of Lobatus gigas on San Salvador Island, the Bahamas. Palaios 34:383-392. *Palaios paper of the year – Honorable Mention* *Cover Article*

Current Position: Natural Resources Specialist 1 (Land Title Adjudicator), Alaska Department of Natural Resources

M.S. 2017 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences, co-advised with Kevin Shelton)

Regional variation and depositional controls on the record of the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (SPICE)

Publications:

• J.D. Schiffbauer, J.W. Huntley, D.A. Fike, M. Jeffrey, J.M. Gregg, K.L. Shelton. 2017. Decoupling biogeochemical records, extinction, and environmental change in the Cambrian SPICE event. Science Advances 3:e1602158. 

Current position: 

• Adjunct Professor of Geology, Department of Environmental Studies, Bellarmine University

• Senior Scientist, Bluewater Diagnostic Laboratory

M.S. 2017 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

B.S. 2015 University of Oklahoma (Geology)

B.A. 2015 University of Oklahoma (German)

Parasite-host interactions among marine invertebrates

Publications:

• J.W. Huntley, K. De Baets, D. Scarponi, L.C. Linehan, Y.R. Epa, G.S. Jacobs, J.A. Todd. 2021. Bivalve mollusks as hosts in the fossil record, p. 251-287. In K. De Baets, J.W. Huntley (eds.). The Evolution and Fossil Record of Parasitism: Coevolution and Paleoparasitological Techniques. Topics in Geobiology vol. 50, Springer.

M.S. 2016 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

B.A. 2014 St. Lawrence University (Geology)

Conservation paleobiology of marine bivalves of the northern Adriatic Sea, Italy

Influence of environmental gradients on molluscan diversity, community structure, body size, and predation in a carbonate tidal creek, San Salvador, the Bahamas

Publications:

• T.L. Selly, K.E. Hale, J.D. Schiffbauer, D.A. Clapp, J.W. Huntley. 2018. The influence of environmental gradients on molluscan diversity, body size, and predator-prey interactions in a modern carbonate tidal creek setting. American Journal of Science 318:246-273. 

Current position: Environmental Program Specialist 1, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Undergraduate Researcher

Research interests: parasitism of marine bivalve hosts

Personal interests: distance running, weight lifting, guitar, and equestrian activities

Undergraduate Researcher

Research interests: parasitism of Pliocene marine bivalve hosts from Florida

Undergraduate Researcher

Research interests: paleoecology of Pliocene marine invertebrates from Virginia

B.A. University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

Parasite-host interactions of modern lagoonal bivalves, Lesina Lagoon, Italy

B.S. 2015 University of Missouri (Geological Sciences)

B.S. 2015 University of Missouri (Science and Agricultural Journalism)

M.S. 2019 The Ohio State University (Earth Sciences)

Research Interests: My research is focused on the role of silicate weathering in driving global climate change in the Paleozoic. I use isotopic systems such as Sr and Nd to track major shifts in weathering, and I explore how these shifts could have interacted with simultaneous cooling or warming. My projects so far have focused on Middle to Late Ordovician cooling as well as Late Silurian to Middle Devonian climate fluctuation.

Publications:

• J.W. Huntley, J.D. Schiffbauer, T.D. Avila, J.S. Broce. 2018. Ecophenotypy, temporal and spatial fidelity, functional morphology, and physiological trade-offs among intertidal bivalves. Paleobiology 44:530-545. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2018.14

Current position: Ph.D. Candidate at Ohio State University