About this website

Authors

Bob Spicer

Bob obtained a BSc in botany at Imperial College, University of London, followed by a PhD in Geology, also at Imperial. He was then awarded a Lindemann Fellowship to work with Jack Wolfe at the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, where he began working in Alaska. Following a year as a Research Associate of the California Academy of Sciences he returned to the UK on contract to the USGS at Imperial College, London, before becoming a lecturer in Life Sciences at Goldsmith's College, University of London. He was then appointed to the Earth Sciences Department at Oxford University, where he also served as Dean of St Hugh's College, after which he joined The Open University, UK, as Professor of Earth Sciences and Head of the Earth Sciences Department. Subsequently he became the founding Director of the Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research (CEPSAR) at The Open University. Now Emeritus Professor in the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at The Open University he has an active research program in China researching monsoon evolution and the paleoelevation history of the Himalaya and Tibet.

Alexei Herman

Alexei Herman studied at the Moscow State University Geology Department specialising in paleontology, first in Devonian fish and then in plant fossils, particularly those of the Russian Cretaceous. He obtained his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Vsevolod A.Vakhrameev on the subject of "Late Cretaceous Angiosperms of Kamchatka and Ugolnaya Bay and Their Stratigraphic Significance". Alexei then joined the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Department of Stratigraphy (Palaeontology and Stratigraphy) where he is now the Head of the Palaeofloristics Laboratory. He has extensive fieldwork experience in northeastern Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Alaska and Tibet.

Teresa Spicer

Teresa Spicer obtained a BSc specialising in the Earth Sciences from The Open University, UK. She has travelled extensively, having lived in both east and west Africa, Egypt, India and Belgium and undertaken fieldwork in China, India, New Zealand and Thailand. Her research focuses on the study of foliar physiognomy in relation to climate.

Jian Yang - Website Support

Jian Yang obtained a BSc in the School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, and then a PhD at the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where is currently based. He has conducted fieldwork in the Arctic, Antarctic and Tibet. Most of his research focuses on the evolutionary history of plants and climate during the Paleogene and Neogene.