Prof. Dr. Derek E.G. Briggs

Profile

Academic positionFull Professor
Research fieldsPalaeontology
KeywordsFossil-Lagerstätten, taphonomy, biogeochemistry, Cambrian explosion, arthropod

Current contact address

CountryUnited States of America
CityNew Haven
InstitutionYale University
InstituteDepartment of Earth & Planetary Sciences

Host during sponsorship

Prof. Dr. Jes RustForschungsbereich Paläontologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn
Prof. Dr. Joachim Tobias HaugFakultät für Biologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), Martinsried
Start of initial sponsorship01/03/2008

Programme(s)

2007Humboldt Research Award Programme

Nominator's project description

Professor Briggs has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the Cambrian explosion, the phylogeny of arthropods, the nature of conodonts, the controls on soft tissue fossilization, and the preservation of organic molecules in the rock record. He has pioneered a combination of new experimental approaches and chemical and mineralogical analyses to research into the fossilization of soft-tissues. During his stay in Germany, he intends to work on the preservation of fossil insects and on insect phylogeny as well as on the arthropods of the Devonian Hunsrück Slate.