Dr. Alison Cribb

Dr. Alison Cribb

she/her

Fossils for the future!

Life and Planet 2026 and ESSG updates

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We have just finished another successful Life and Planet meeting. Many thanks as always to the Geological Society of London and Burlington House for hosting nearly 100 researchers from across the globe who came together to discuss the co-evolution of life and the environment.

I am also excited to announce that, while I have stepped down from my role as Secretary, I have been elected to a three-year term as the new ESSG Vice Chair! I will also be continuing my role as EDI Chair until 2027. I am excited about the work that ESSG is doing to bring together the geobiology and Earth systems science communities from around the world, and I can’t wait to continue to liaise with the Geological Society of London on work that’s helping the community reach its goals.

I am moving to the University of Oxford!

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I have now joined the University of Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences. For the next two years, as a Schmidt AI in Science Fellow, I will be working at the intersection between quantitative palaeoecology and artificial intellligence. My primary research objective will be to apply reinforcement learning to agent-based model simulations of the end-Triassic mass extinction to learn how marine animals can adapt to survive rapid climate change events. I am also interested in more broadly applying machine learning and artifical intelligence to learn more about patterns of biodiversity and early animal evolution.

5th Annual IFCRS Early Career Symposium

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I am pleased to be organizing again this year the International Fossil and Coral Reef Society Early Career Symposium on 19 November. We are excited to highlight 10 early career researchers from across the world who are working on a range of topics, from the earliest microbialite reefs to conservation management strategies in our future. This year, we are also hosting meet-the-lab sessions with PIs and online coffee break chats about career advice and emerging research frontiers. Keep an eye on IFCRS.com for news and udpates about how to register and attend!

New paper on ecosystem engineering and biodiversity.

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I am excited to share my newest publication, “Marine biodiversity was greater in the presence of ecosystem engineers throughout the Phanerozoic,” with Simon Darroch and William Gearty, which is officially published in Nature Communications today 🪱 🪸