Millions of years ago, a soft-bodied creature died and sank into the mud. By rights, it should have vanished without a trace. Instead, it turned to stone — and I’m trying to figure out how.

I’m a palaeontologist specialising in taphonomy: the science of how things die, decay, and occasionally become fossils. Through hands-on decay experiments, I investigate the strange interplay between rotting flesh, burial, and geology that transforms a once-living animal into rock.

My work spans an unusually wide range of creatures — from polychaete worms and crustaceans to fish, amphibians, cephalopods, and even the deeply weird Tully Monster. I even work on fossil plants. If it once lived and now puzzles scientists, I’m interested and will rot it in the lab!

This site is my virtual CV and a window into my research. Want to talk science? Head to the About Me tab to get in touch.