Redantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa qu ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architectos beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim.
Current Students
My research is focused on identification and characterization of the oldest fossil animals (Ediacara biota) from Precambrian rocks of northern and central Iran based on modern Ediacaran classification.
My name is Raymond Fong. I am a M.Sc. student co-supervised by Dr. Marc Laflamme and Dr. Robert Reisz. My research is on the dental histology of Lystrosaurus and how it relates to tooth evolution and development in amniotes.
My undergraduate thesis looks to chemically identify an enigmatic green mineralization on mollusks of the lower member of the Gull River Formation in the Middle Ordovician of samples taken from outside of Orillia, Ontario.Methods of X-ray Powder Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and petrologic analysis will be employed to settle the mystery shrouding this mineral’s identity.
I work with Dr. Marc Laflamme on a series of soft tissue fossilization and exceptional preservation studies. We are currently working on a novel research technology, in which the sedimentary, aqueous, and atmospheric environments of a decay experiment can be analyzed in a closed system.
Past Students
I am currently working on a slab full of Ediacaran fossils taken from the eastern surface of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. I specifically look at a species called fractofusus. Measuring the sizes and distances between each fractofusus creates a map of spatial dynamics, which helps to investigate the reproductive mdoe.
My name is Jonathan Hersh and I’m an undergraduate student studying chemistry at UTM. As part of an interdisciplinary research team under Dr. Laflamme, my research is towards the development of a versatile experimental vessel for use in multivariate analysis of decay. I’m passionate about analytical chemistry and teaching, the former of which I am able to exercise heavily in this project.
My name is David Patch, and I am a Chemistry/Environmental Science Undergraduate student working with Marc LaFlamme and his team towards completion of our AIR Lab Project. I also completed an ROP with him during the summer of 2015.
My master’s research with Dr. Marc Laflamme at the University of Toronto investigated the formation of Mazon Creek siderite concretions (307Ma), which are famous for their soft-bodied fossils. Through this work I gained experience with stable isotope (C, O, S) geochemistry and several analytical mineralogy methods which have provided a strong foundation of knowledge for my PhD research.
My thesis focused on constructing a database of the global Ediacaran body-fossil record. Statistical analyses were then applied to this dataset to identify the underlying controls on the stratigraphic distribution of these fossils, in order to identify any biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental patterns that explain the taxonomic composition of these assemblages.
In the Laflamme lab, I studied Palaeozoic fish, including a large predatory Onychodontiform sarcopterygian (lobe-finned fish) and new species of the Placoderm Macropetalichthys, through histological and CT scanning analysis. In addition, my undergrad project with Dr. Laflamme was on taphonomic biases on the Mazon Creek fossil shrimp.
I worked in Dr. Marc Laflamme’s Lab as a student part of the Research Opportunity Program (ROP) at UTM. As an ROP student, I studied the taphonomic variance of the exceptionally preserved Polychaete (Esconites)fossils from the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek (Francis Creek Shale) region of northeastern Illinois, provided by the Royal Ontario Museum. From the data we collected, I was able to attend the Geological Society of America (GSA) conference held in Colorado, USA, and present a poster of my research
I studied fossil Carboniferous ferns from the Mazon Creek formation in Illinois. The Size, colour and clarity of nearly 500 specimens was record in order to determine why such a great range in fossil quality existed.
Laura won a Research Opportunity Program position with Marc Laflamme’s lab, spending the summer of her second year observing 300-million-year-old fern fossils from the Royal Ontario Museum. That led to being named as a secondary researcher on a paper published in PALAIOS, giving Krajewski the chance to present her work at two major conferences.