Larisa R. G. DeSantis
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Research Interests: The DeSantis DREAM Lab is focused on conducting interdisciplinary research aimed at understanding ecological and evolutionary responses to global change, at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Specifically, we use modern, historic, and fossil records to inform ecologists and conservation biologists about floral and faunal responses to climate change. Short-term ecological and geochemical studies provide the framework from which we can understand how stable isotopes and dental microwear record floral and faunal dynamics, while clarifying the ecology of extant mammals. The fossil record subsequently extends the temporal scale at which we can ask questions pertaining to competition, long-term responses to environmental change, and conditions facilitating species-level extinctions.
Keywords: Vertebrate paleontology, paleoecology, paleoclimates