Amy Shipley
- Email: eeaes@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: What were the trophic consequences of the extinction of the largest apex predator of all time?
- Supervisor: Dr Alex Dunhill, Dr Tracy Aze, Dr Catalina Pimiento, Professor Andrew Beckerman, Professor Jennifer Dunne
Profile
I am a PhD student within the School of Earth and Environment funded by the NERC Panorama DTP.
This research project is hoping to address how the loss of apex predators impacts environments and ecosystem structure. I am focussing on a Pliocene marine megafaunal extinction event (~2.5–3 million years ago) during which Otodus megalodon one of the largest apex predators of all time went extinct. I will be reconstructing food webs for these marine communities, modelling extinction cascades and tracking food web structure change into the Pleistocene.
Research interests
- Macroevolution
- Palaeobiology and palaeoecology
- Impact of extinction events on the taxonomic composition of ecosystems
Qualifications
- MSc Palaeobiology, University of Bristol
- BSc Zoology, University of Reading
Research groups and institutes
- Earth Surface Science Institute
- Palaeo@Leeds