If you are interested in Ediacaran research and would like to discuss potential avenues for a future PhD in this area, please get in touch. Opportunities for funded PhD and PDRA positions for October 2021 entry at the University of Cambridge will be advertised here shortly.

Postdoctoral Researchers


Dr Charlotte Kenchington (2018 - Present)

Charlotte is an independent Leverhulme Early Career Fellow. Her research into Ediacaran systematics, ichnology and palaeoecology, with a particular focus on understanding the extent of ecophenotypism amongst frondose taxa, nicely complements the research interests of the wider group.




Doctoral Students


Ben Tindal (2018 - Present)

Ben joined the group following an Earth Sciences undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford, and investigates Cryogenian to Ediacaran glaciogenic sedimentary successions, primarily in Newfoundland and the UK. He is co-supervised by Dr Neil Davies (Cambridge), and funded by a NERC C-CLEAR DTP / CASE+ studentship.




Katie Delahooke (2020 - Present)

Katie joined the group following a combined Geology/Biology degree at the University of St. Andrews, and is investigating the palaeoecology of the smallest Ediacaran macrofossils (sub-3cm) from fossil assemblages in Newfoundland, Canada. She is co-supervised by Dr Emily Mitchell (Cambridge), and funded by a NERC C-CLEAR DTP studentship.

Former students

Dr Frankie Dunn (2015 - 2019, PhD student)
Frankie explored the development and morphogenesis of Ediacaran frondose macro-organisms, enabling improved constraint of their phylogenetic affinities within the Metazoa. Papers published during her PhD include a review of Ediacaran developmental biology, and detailed studies of the fossils Charnia and Arborea. She completed her degree in May 2019, and has moved to Oxford Museum of Natural History to take up both an 1851 Fellowship, and a Junior Research Fellowship from Merton College. Frankie was co-supervised by Prof. Phil Donoghue (University of Bristol), and Dr Phil Wilby (British Geological Survey), and funded by a NERC GW4 DTP / CASE+ studentship.




Catherine Boddy (2019 - 2020, MESc student)
Cat investigated the palaeogeographic distribution of the Ediacaran macrobiota, exploring the possibility of whether a latitudinal biodiversity gradient existed during the late Ediacaran Period. Her results are currently in review at the Journal of the Geological Society.





Anna McGairy (2019 - 2020, MESc student)
Anna's project characterised two new species of rangeomorph from the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland, using multivariate morphometric analyses and study of ontogeny to distinguish these taxa from previously known species. She was co-supervised by Dr Charlotte Kenchington, and is now a PhD student at the University of Leicester.




Erin Leahy (2019 - 2020, MESc student)
Erin applied Spatial Point Process Analyses to explore the dominant morphological traits ('super-traits') that control the composition and dynamics of Ediacaran benthic communities. Her project was co-supervised by Dr Emily Mitchell.




Alavya Dhungana (2018 - 2019, MESc student)
Alavya studied the spatial distributions and taphonomy of the Ediacaran discoidal fossil Aspidella from Newfoundland, Canada, to test the hypothesis that they represent the holdfast discs of frondose organisms, in a project co-supervised by Dr Emily Mitchell (University of Cambridge). He has since moved to Durham University to undertake a MRes, and more recently a PhD, in Palaeobiology.


Christos Psarras (2015, MSc student)
Christos investigated the 3-dimensional nature of material from Siberia claimed to be the oldest evidence for bioturbation on Earth (Rogov et al., 2012). He compared this material to tubular body fossils from latest Ediacaran strata in Spain, to resolve previous suggestions that the Siberian material may alternatively record body fossil assemblages (cf. Brasier et al., 2013). Christos was co-supervised by Prof. Phil Donoghue (University of Bristol) and Dr Dima Grazhdankin (IPGG, Novosibirsk). He is currently completing a PhD project on Cenozoic molluscs at the University of Athens.