Silvina Slagter, M.Sc.

My research aims at understanding the interplays between major environmental changes throughout Earth’s history and the evolution and diversification of life on Earth. In particular, I seek to identify feedbacks between biological innovations and lasting geochemical changes on Earth’s surface. My approach to tackling these questions combines direct observation of the fossil record and geochemical archives preserved in the geologic record with laboratory experiments. I interrogate why certain minerals and modes of fossilization are restricted to time intervals associated with the appearance and radiation of animals and whether unique biological features may be recognizable through chemical and mineralogical transformations that take place during the burial and lithification of sediments.