Tessa Brunoir
Paleobiologist
Research
Trained as a geologist and molecular biologist, I use the rock record and modern analogs of ancient animals to research the evolution of the earliest animals on Earth. My current focus is on unusual biomarker signals from ~660 million-year-old Cryogenian strata.
The Paleo:
On the paleo side of my work, I use classical techniques from paleontology, sedimentary geology, and geochemistry to make environmental inferences about the past from the rock record.
The Bio:
I utilize tools from molecular biology and phylogenomics to investigate the evolutionary history of genes in the modern descendants of ancient animals.
Publications:
Brunoir, T., et al. “Common Origin of Sterol Biosynthesis Points to a Feeding Strategy Shift in Neoproterozoic Animals.” Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 1, Dec. 2023, p. 7941. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43545-z.
Farrell, Úna C., et al. “The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project.” Geobiology, vol. 19, no. 6, Nov. 2021, pp. 545–56. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12462.
Sperling, Erik A., et al. “A Long-Term Record of Early to Mid-Paleozoic Marine Redox Change.” Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 28, July 2021, p. eabf4382. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf4382.
Browne, Tessa N., et al. “Redox and Paleoenvironmental Conditions of the Devonian-Carboniferous Sappington Formation, Southwestern Montana, and Comparison to the Bakken Formation, Williston Basin.” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 560, 2020, p. 110025.
