Dr. Elizabeth Harper

Biography

Professor Elizabeth Harper is an Honorary Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Fellow at the British Antarctic Survey. Her research primarily focuses on Evolutionary Biology, utilizing a range of zoological and palaeontological techniques to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic controls that shape evolution. Her main research targets are bivalves and brachiopods, which are significant components of marine faunas throughout the Phanerozoic. Professor Harper collaborates with prominent researchers such as Professor Antonio Checa at the University of Granada to investigate microstructural characteristics in mollusks using advanced microscopic and x-ray analyses. She is also working with Professor John Taylor from the Natural History Museum in London on the NSF-funded Bivalve Tree of Life project, which explores bivalve phylogeny through both molecular and morphological methodologies. Her current projects involve studying the impacts of changing ocean pH on the production and maintenance of shells and the evolutionary responses of various marine organisms to predation pressures. Her extensive research also includes current work in Antarctica examining drilling predation at the K-Pg boundary. Through her rigorous data collection, she aims to capture high levels of spatial and temporal variability in the evolutionary patterns of marine life.

Research Interests