Lara Anne Ford is an undergraduate studying History at The Ohio State University.Her primary area of interest is the history of Christianity, particularly the development of Catholic doctrine and Christology. Her interest in paleontology compliments her interest in history. History, in a traditional sense, is the study of the events of humanity. Geology involves the study of the events of the Earth and of the organisms inhabiting it. When the two are combined their range is comprehensive. She intends to combine these two subjects as she continues her studies, particularly by studying the history of geology.

Loren Babcock, a Professor of Geological Sciences, is a paleontologist whose primary research interests are in early life forms and the processes related to the preservation of organisms as fossils.  His field work is global in scope and includes strata ranging in age from about 600 million years ago to present. Current projects include studies of trilobites and other fossils from western North America, Greenland, and China; fossils from the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica and the jungles of South America; and the factors that played a role in the development of life forms during the “Cambrian explosion.”

Alycia Rode is a postdoctoral researcher in the Babcock lab this summer and is an Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences at Ohio University.   Alycia’s research focuses on examining the interactions between ecology, biogeography, and the evolution and extinction of species.   One of Alycia’s research areas involves examining the role that ancient invasive species played in mediating mass extinctions in the fossil record and how this relates to the long term effects of invasive species in the modern world.  Alycia is also involved in reconstructing evolutionary relationships among groups of arthropods, including the conchostracans she and Loren collected in Antarctica, some of which are examined in this project.