Paul E. Olsen

Research Interest

Biogeoscience, Geology, Paleontology, Paleoclimate, Basin Evolution, Biostratigraphy, Invertebrate Paleontology, Paleobotany, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, Palynology, Sedimentary Geology, Stratigraphy, Solar System Gravitational Evolution

Biography

I am a broadly trained paleontologist and stratigrapher. My interests, research projects, and teaching involve macroevolutionary patterns of evolution and extinction responding to and causing climate change over geological time, especially in continental ecosystems, and also patterns of orbitally paced climate change and how that informs the chaotic history of the Solar System. My research methods include structural geology, paleontology, palynology, geochemistry, and geophysics and frequently employ scientific drilling and field studies.

Education

BA in Geology, with honors, Yale University 1978

M. Phil. and Ph.D. in Biology, Yale University 1984. Ph.D. thesis was on evolution of lake ecosystems

Miller Postdoctoral Fellow in Basic Research, Berkeley 1983-1984