What can researchers tell us?
In each week, I will be interviewing palaeontologists and other scientists engaged in research about biodiversity – past and present. It is fascinating to see how new knowledge about the past impacts on our understanding of the present, and suggests what it may mean for the future. Below we’ve included a list of the guest scientists whom I have interviewed over the course. I am hugely grateful to these colleagues for sharing their knowledge with us.
| Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan | lead educator and paleobiologist, University of Cape Town |
| Professor Ed Rybicki | microbiologist, University of Cape Town |
| Tetsuto Miyashita | PhD candidate, University of Alberta |
| Dr Robert Gess | paleontologist, Albany Museum/Rhodes University |
| Dr Roger Smith | paleontologist & geologist, Iziko Museums |
| Dr Michael Day | paleontologist, Wits University |
| Emeritus Professor John Anderson | paleobotanist, Wits University |
| Dr Emil Krupandan | Postdoctoral researcher, University of Cape Town |
| Pippa Haarhoff | paleontologist, Manager at West Coast Fossil Park |
| Professor Becky Ackermann | biological anthropologist, University of Cape Town |
| Emeritus Professor William Bond | terrestrial ecologist, University of Cape Town |
| Professor Peter Ryan | ornithologist, University of Cape Town |
| Associate Professor Muthama Muasya | plant scientist, University of Cape Town |
| Professor Timm Hoffman | plant ecologist, University of Cape Town |
| Dr Denham Parker | fisheries scientist, University of Cape Town |
| Associate Professor Lindsey Gillson | conservation biologist, University of Cape Town |
Next week we start looking in detail at the mass extinction events. The earliest mass extinction, known as the End Ordovician (also called the ‘Ordovician-Silurian’) which happened 443 million years ago (mya); and the second mass extinction event, called the End Devonian around 373 mya. Although these two extinction events are the furthest back in time, they were highly significant events which drove the diversification of life, particularly in the marine environments.
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