I am an affiliated faculty member in the Global Change Center at VT. In practice, most vertebrate paleontologists are evolutionary biologists focusing on animals that are now extinct, often as a result of a cascade of changes in climate and the ecosystem over deep time. My own research centers on exploring the macroevolutionary patterns and processes of biodiversity. I incorporate critical data from fossil specimens with my research on extant taxa through my fieldwork, which enables me to explore the regional and chronologic differences between and among terrestrial vertebrate assemblages and continental ecosystems over deep time.