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glande@lsu.edu
(225) 578-2153 (office) (225) 578- 2302 (fax) Department of Geology and Geophysics Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803 |
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In the geologic record, biotic remains preserve a record of ancient life and provide a wealth of information as sediment grains, and I integrate both types of information into my research. The primary focus of my research is molluscan paleobiology, paleoecology, taphonomy, and phylogeny. Current projects include a field and laboratory study of the evolutionary history of Neogene Corbulidae (Bivalvia: Myoidea) in tropical America, especially as it relates to environmental, oceanographic, and climatic changes over the last 23 million years (Neogene). I am expanding this research in collaboration with Mike Hellberg of Biological Sciences and postdoctoral associate Audrey Aronowsky to produce a systematic revision of the Corbulidae at a global scale to examine the ecology and life history characteristics of invasive marine clades. I am developing a collaboration with department colleagues Audrey Aronowsky, Annette Engel, and Huiming Bao to examine the phylogenetic, biogeographic, and geologic history of endosymbiosis between lucinid bivalves and the sulfur-oxidizing bacteria they host. I also am interested in finding reliable multitaxon and taphonomic proxies for seagrass beds in the fossil record. I have collaborated with several colleagues in Geology, Biology and Coastal Studies to evaluate oil and gas platforms on the Louisiana Continental Shelf for organisms with biotechnology potential. In other research projects, I have used taphonomic and paleoenvironmental data from macrofaunal and foraminiferal assemblages to reconstruct the climatic, environmental, and depositional history of Holocene sediments on the northeastern Gulf of Mexico shelf and the southwestern Louisiana chenier plain.