Our research group comprises expertise in a broad range of scientific disciplines including paleobotany, palynology, plant ecophysiology, geology, paleoecology and plant sciences. We are primarily interested in the role of past changes in atmospheric composition (CO2, O2, SO2) and climate in large scale patterns in plant ecology and evolution and how the acquisition of new morphological and/or anatomical traits influenced subsequent plant-atmosphere interactions and plant macroevolution. Current research projects of the group include the development and testing of new palaeoatmospheric and palaeoelevation proxies, tracking vegetations dynamics associated with first and second order mass extinction events in Earth history, testing geochemical models of the long-term and short-term carbon cycle (particularly those associated with oceanic anoxic events), investigating the uplift history of major mountain chains, such as the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, and investigating the influence of fire on patterns of plant extinction and origination..

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Updated: July 14, 2008: Dr. J. C. McElwain