People

Dr. Xiao is a geobiologist that studies early animal life from all over the world. His work has illustrated the extraordinary preservation of fossil cells and continues to study the early evolution of some of the most bizarre creatures to ever have lived.

Shuhai received his PhD degree from Harvard University. He taught three years at Tulane University before joining Virginia Tech in 2003. He is interested in biological and environmental evolution in the Proterozoic Eon (2500-540 Ma).

Dr. Xiao’s research site

Shuhai Xiao

Dr. Nesbitt is a vertebrate paleontologist interested in terrestrial vertebrate evolution during Earth’s great transitions. Particularly, Sterling studies the rise of reptiles (archosaurs and their relatives) following the end-Permian extinction.

Sterling received a BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, a PhD in Geosciences from Columbia University and has conducted postdoctoral projects at The University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, and the Field Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Nesbitt’s research site

Sterling Nesbitt

Dr. Stocker is a vertebrate paleontologist focusing on the evolutionary history of reptiles. Michelle splits her research between Triassic archosauromorphs and Paleogene reptiles, as well as the evolution of extant fossorial reptiles called amphisbaenians.

Michelle received a BS in Geological Sciences from the University of Michigan, a MS in Geosciences from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in Geological Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Stocker’s research site

Michelle Stocker

Pedro Monarrez

Dr. Monarrez is a paleobiologist and stratigrapher focusing on macroevolutionary dynamics of marine ecosystems across different scales through geologic time, with an interest in mass extinctions. Pedro combines fieldwork, applying ecological theory and sequence stratigraphic principles, and computational analyses using large databases to address various questions related to the origination and extinction of marine animals using various traits, such as ecology, body size, and physiology.

Pedro completed his BS and MS in Geological Sciences at California State University, Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in Geology at the University of Georgia. He was a Doerr School Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Stanford University and was a staff member in the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences at UCLA before joining Virginia Tech.

Dr. Monarrez's website

Rachel Reid

Dr. Reid is a paleoecologist interested in how disturbances, such as climate and environmental change, impact species, ecosystems, and their interactions over a range of timescales. Rachel brings an interdisciplinary approach to her research, incorporating viewpoints, tools, and data from geology, ecology, and archaeology, using stable isotope geochemistry as a central methodological tool.

Rachel received a BA in Geology from Carleton College, an MS and PhD in Earth Sciences from The University of California Santa Cruz, and conducted postdoctoral research at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Reid's Google Scholar site

Vicki Yarborough is a paleontology lab manager and vertebrate fossil preparator focusing on Triassic archosauromorphs and dinosaurs. Besides carefully exposing specimens from rock, Vicki develops custom archival specimen storage housings along with support jackets for use during preparation. She trains and helps students and volunteers prepare and conserve specimens for CT (Computed Tomography) scanning and research.

Vicki received a Bachelors in Fine Art from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Foundation degree from the Wimbledon School of Art in London, England.

Vicki Yarborough

Annamarie is a vertebrate fossil and museum specimen preparator. Extant or extinct, squishy or mineralized, she works to get whatever specimen research-ready. Before VT, Annamarie has prepared specimens for The Field Museum, Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, and most recently, the Badlands Dinosaur Museum.

Annamarie has a BA in English from Kalamazoo College, Michigan

Annamarie Fadorsen

Mariah Green is the Museum and Collections Manager at the Museum of Geosciences. Mariah's MS thesis applied 2D and 3D imaging techniques to evaluate and measure bite force in recent and extinct early Paleocene mammals.

Mariah earned a BS in Earth Science from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois, and earned an MS in Museum and Field Studies with a paleontology specialization from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Mariah Green

Graduate Students

Emily Keeble

PhD Student
ekeeble@vt.edu
Office: 3043 Derring

M.Sc. Paleontology and Evolution, University of Bristol (2017)

Research topics:

Vertebrate anatomy and evolution
Functional morphology of extinct vertebrates
Faunal change throughout the Triassic

Website: link

Instagram: @deinonychusfloof

Erika Goldsmith

PhD Student
ergoldsmith@vt.edu
Office: 3051 Derring

M.Sc. Geology, Temple University (2018)
B.S. Geology, CUNY-Queens College (2014)

Research topics:

Phytosaur paleobiology and evolution
Osteohistology and growth of archosaurs and related taxa
Vertebrate responses to environment and/or climate change

Jack Stack

PhD Student
jackrs@vt.edu
Office: 3051 Derring

M.Sc. Geological Sciences, Michigan State University (2021)
B.A. Earth Sciences, University of Pennsylvania (2019)

Research topics:

Paleobiology and phylogenetic comparative biology of extinct ray-finned fishes
Repeated evolution and innovation in fishes
Evolutionary history of extant biodiversity

Prescott Vayda

PhD Student

prescottvayda@vt.edu

Office: 5051A Derring

M.Sc. Earth Science, The Ohio State University (2021)
B.Sc. Earth Science, The Ohio State University (2019)
B.Sc. Evolution and Ecology, The Ohio State University (2019)

Research topics:

Evolution of life during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition

Taphonomy of exceptionally preserved fossils