I am interested understanding seed-plant evolution through time. This covers three distinct, but interconnected areas.

1. The evolutionary history of seed-plants
This examines the relationships of modern extant flora, which comprises five extant, but highly disparate, lineages: cycads, conifers, Gnetales, Ginkgo (all gymnosperms), and the flowering plants (angiosperms). The origin of the angiosperm lineage from the stem-group gymnosperms is still unresolved and is dependent on the discovery and interpretation of fossil taxa.




A median transverse section of the ovule of Physostoma elegans Will. showing the lobate portion of outer integument which is densely covered in hairs. This thin section was obtained from a Lower Carboniferous coal ball from Lancashire, UK.

2. The co-evolution of plants with other organisms through Phanerozoic time and including modern ecosystems.
This looks at the often subtle and complex interactions of all the organisms within an ecospace: plants, animals, fungi and bacteria.

3. The effect of biological innovations on both the biological and geochemical environment and habitat development.
My postdoc here is to continue examining seed ferns and their relationships with the extant seed plants and to work on amber, its origin, taphonomy, fossil record and the plant inclusions within it. Amber is especially found in the Late Triassic and Lower Cretaceous, and Eocene, all three epochs crucial periods in seed-plant evolution.