HDR Scholarship support by Curtin - ARC project in fossils study

This project aims to unlock an untapped record of our planet’s past, by analysing exceptionally well preserved fossils in concretions. The well-studied inorganic fossil record has provided a framework for understanding major events in the evolution of life and our planet. However, the proposed project aims to significantly advance current perceptions, by accessing the parallel but rarer organic record in the form of biomarkers and biomolecules that can be entombed in exceptionally preserved fossil material. To achieve this goal, a range of well-preserved fossils will be investigated to evaluate molecules related to organism(s), modes of organic and fossil preservation and paleoenvironmental reconstruction.