How Extinctions Shaped the History of Life

Travel back 183 million years to the Early Jurassic, a time when dinosaurs were just getting started on land—and life in the oceans was in crisis. Join Dr. Rowan Martindale, Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UT Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences, for a fascinating look at how ancient environmental changes reshaped life below the waves.

Dr. Martindale will highlight how coral reef ecosystems and other marine communities survived extinctions during the Jurassic Period, responding to excessive heat, acidity and low oxygen in water. Learn how our understanding of ocean ecosystems from 183 million years ago can help us protect similar ecosystems today, and what they might tell us about the future of life on Earth.