I completed my BSc in Geology and Biology, and MSc in Palaeobiology, at the University of Bristol. I received my PhD from the University of Cambridge on the topic of Cambrian microfossils and early arthropod evolution. I then undertook NERC-funded postdoctoral research at the universities of Cambridge and Leicester, starting a lectureship at Leicester in 2013. Since then I have supervised many research projects at undergraduate, masters and PhD level.  

Research interests

I am interested in the deep evolutionary history of animals and phytoplankton, and links to the physical environment including palaeogeography and climate. I have made new discoveries by exploring the rich untapped record of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs), extractable from mudstones using innovative laboratory techniques, and through fieldwork in Canada, China and Vietnam, including work on exceptionally preserved Cambrian biotas. Research in these topics reveals the fundamental construction of ecosystems that have persisted for hundreds of millions of years, but are threatened by humans at the present day. 

Current Projects and Collaborations

• Earth System Dynamics at the Dawn of Animal Life. The Leverhulme Trust, 2023–2026, with Mark Williams (Leicester), Alex Liu (Cambridge) and Alexandre Pohl (Bourgogne). 

• Continuing research on Ediacaran and Cambrian microfossils, including palynomorphs and small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs), with collaborators in the UK and further afield. 

Dr Tom Harvey's papers