Jill Leonard-Pingel Visiting Assistant Professor of Geology
Visiting Assistant Professor, Washington and Lee University 2014-present
Post-doctoral Research Scientist, University of Chicago 2012-2014
Ph.D., Earth Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, 2012
Advisor: Dr. Jeremy Jackson
M.S., Geology, Louisiana State University 2005
Advisor: Dr. Laurie Anderson
B.A., Geology and Environmental Studies, Cornell College, 2003
I am an invertebrate paleontologist interested in how the environment shapes biological communities. I am interested in how environmental change can shape evolution in deeper geologic time, but also how anthropogenic impacts are changing communities on historical time scales. Currently I am involved in a project to study the effects of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama on Neogene mollusks (clams and snails) of the Caribbean. On the conservation paleobiology side I am part of a collaborative efforts to 1) track changes in Panamanian reef communities over the past several centuries 2) use bivalve death assemblages to test remediation efforts off the coast of Los Angeles and 3) create a proxy for temperate lake health using subfossil assemblages. To read more about these projects please see my personal website.
GEOL 100: General Geology with Field Emphasis
GEOL 105: Earth Lab: Historical Ecology of the Chesapeake Bay
GEOL 155: Oceanography
GEOL 209: Study of the Fossil Record Lab
GEOL 397: Paleontology
Cramer, K.L., Leonard-Pingel, J., Rodriguez, F., Jackson, J. B. C. 2015. Changes in Molluscan subfossil assemblages reveal the historical deterioration of coral reef environments in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 96: 176-187.
Leonard-Pingel, J. S. and Jackson, J. B. C. 2013. Differences in predation rates among bivalve taxonomic groups. Drilling intensity varies among Neogene tropical American Bivalvia in relation to shell form and life habit. Bulletin of Marine Science 89:905-919.
Leonard-Pingel, J. S., Jackson, J. B. C. & O’Dea, A. 2012. Featured Article: Changes in Bivalve functional and community ecology in response to environmental change in the Caribbean Neogene. Paleobiology, 38: 509-524.
Cramer, K. L., Jackson, J. B. C., Angioletti, C. V., Leonard-Pingel, J., and Guilderson, T. P. 2012. Extensive Anthropogenic Mortality on Caribbean Coral Reefs Predates Coral Bleaching and Disease. Ecology Letters, 15: 561-567.