Dr Chris Mays

Dr Chris Mays is Lecturer in Palaeontology at UCC, where he teaches about the changes in Earth’s past, and how these have left permanent marks on the fossil and rock records. 

Chris’ research is driven by a fascination of the everchanging natural world. Land environmental and ecological changes, both past and present, are imprinted on the plants. By studying the plants of prehistory, Chris uncovers how life on Earth has responded to rapidly changing climates. 

Chris’ team, the Mass Extinction Group, is investigating the extinction and recovery trends of plants, and the environmental changes that drove these, during the most devastating mass extinctions of all time.  

Marcos Amores

Marcos Amores is a PhD student at UCC who only recently realised his passion lies in figuring more about the history of life, and how this grand story has unfolded. The chapters of this story that most interest Marcos the most are those concerning long-dead plants, as he feels their lack of familiarity understates their crucial role as setting the stage for the more spectacular forms of existence. 

Marcos’ research currently concerns past plant ecosystems and how and why these changed over time. More specifically, he is focused on an interval of time around 249 million years ago, around the dawn of the dinosaurs, when woody forests began recovering following their devastation during Earth’s largest mass extinction. 

Dr Aidan Sweeney

Dr Aidan Sweeney is a Research Assistant at UCC and programme manager of the Fossils for our Future programme. Aidan is passionate about science engagement and accessibility.  

She has always been fascinated by the forms and developmental pathways life has taken in the past and how selective pressures inform the current diversity of life. Her research has focused on the morphology, behavioural ecology, and developmental biology of marine benthic invertebrates through time. She believes that increasing our understanding of palaeobiology is socially important as it contextualizes the world we interact with today.

Holly-Anne Turner

Holly-Anne Turner is a PhD student in the Mass Extinction Group at UCC investigating the ecological effects of the world’s worst mass extinction 252 million years ago. To do this, she is comparing plant fossils from immediately after the extinction and beyond to see how plant communities, and the types of insects that fed on them, evolved in response to the rapidly changing climate. 

Holly-Anne’s research is driven by a desire to understand the big evolutionary trends in the history of land plants and puzzle out the likely causes of these changes. Understanding why plants are so successful today involves investigating important adaptations plants evolved in the past and the type of environments they were adapting to.