Professor Alex Liu     MESc (Oxon), D.Phil. (Oxon), FGS
Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Cambridge
Christine Mckie Official Fellow in Natural Sciences, Girton College, Cambridge

I am a palaeobiologist whose research focuses on the fossil record of the earliest animals. The research conducted by my group currently includes investigation of: the late Ediacaran fossil record (spanning the geological interval ~580 to 539 million years ago when the earliest recognisable animals diversified throughout the global oceans); the sedimentary record of glacial conditions through time; Ediacaran-Cambrian palaeogeography; and the preservation of soft tissues in the rock record. We combine biological, ecological, sedimentological and analytical approaches to resolve the early evolutionary history of animals, and the interplay between biological evolution and major environmental change.

I am Professor of Palaeobiology at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge. Professional affiliations include being an Associate Editor for the Journal of Paleontology, and a Voting Member of the International Subcommission on Ediacaran Stratigraphy.

Additional web pages of interest

University of Cambridge Departmental profile

Lab group website: https://liuearlylife.weebly.com

Instagram: palaeo_ninja

At Fish River Canyon, southern Namibia, 2022. Picture courtesy of W. McMahon.