UT Micropaleo

The University of Texas Micropaleontology Lab is focused on using foraminifera to study ​how the oceans have changed in the past, the response of marine life to those changes, and what that can tell us about how the oceans and ocean life are changing today.

Current Projects

Holocene environmental change on the Texas shelf

State- and federally-funded research to identify buried sand resources on the Texas Shelf and understand how coastal systems responded to Holocene sea level change, currently focused on the Galveston, TX area.

Eocene-Oligocene Ocean circulation

A major extinction of plankton occurred across the Eocene-Oligocene transition driven by changing climate and ocean circulation. We are working on multiple projects to understand the role played by deep sea circulation changes.

End Cretaceous Mass Extinction

​Understanding how ecosystems recovered from major mass extinctions helps us understand how our modern ecosystem will recover. Our UT-led project is working to understand how the whole plankton ecosystem recovered after the last major mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.

Contact Info

e-mail: cmlowery at utexas dot edu

​address: Dr. Chris Lowery
University of Texas Institute for Geophysics
J.J. Pickle Research Campus,
Building 196
10100 Burnet Road (R2200)
Austin, TX 78758-444

Twitter:  @clowery806

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