
Dr John Cunningham
B.Sc.(Edin.), M.Sc.(Bristol), PhD(Liv.)
Expertise
My research interests are in early animal evolution and exceptional fossil preservation. I am also the director of the Palaeobiology MSc.
Current positions
Senior Lecturer
School of Earth Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
I am a teaching-focused lecturer based in the School of Earth Sciences. I am the director of the Palaeobiology MSc programme. My research interests are in early animal evolution and exceptional fossil preservation. A major focus has been on fossilized animal embryos from the Cambrian and lowermost Ordovician, as well as the embryo-like fossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo biota. I use a range of techniques in this work ranging from experimental decay to synchrotron tomography.
Research interests
I am a teaching-focused lecturer based in the School of Earth Sciences. I am the director of the Palaeobiology MSc and Palaeontology and Evolution BSc and MSci programmes. My research interests are in early animal evolution and exceptional fossil pereservation. A major focus has been on fossilized animal embryos from the Cambrian and lowermost Ordovician, as well as the embryo-like fossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo biota. I use a range of techniques in this work ranging from experimental decay to synchrotron tomography.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Major transitions in evolution: understanding the fossil evidence
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/09/2012 to 01/03/2017
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Recent publications
31/07/2022Not all Bloom and gloom: assessing constructive alignment, higher order cognitive skills, and their influence on students’ perceived learning within the practical components of an undergraduate biology course
Journal of Biological Education
Acanthodian dental development and the origin of gnathostome dentitions
Nature Ecology and Evolution
Experimental taphonomy of organelles and the fossil record of early eukaryote evolution
Science Advances
The use of photogrammetric fossil models in palaeontology education
Evolution: Education and Outreach
Nucleus preservation in early Ediacaran Weng’an embryo-like fossils, experimental taphonomy of nuclei, and implications for reading the eukaryote fossil record
Interface Focus