"A Catastrophic Journey Through Time": Faculty Inaugural Lecture by Prof. Alex Dunhill

We are delighted to announce that the third lecture in the Faculty of Environment and Social Sciences Inaugural Lecture Series will be delivered by Professor Alex Dunhill (School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability).

Professor Alex Dunhill is a palaeobiologist whose research explores the grand patterns and processes that have shaped life on Earth over hundreds of millions of years. His work spans a wide range of palaeobiological questions, from understanding how biodiversity has changed through time, to reconstructing the structure of ancient ecosystems, and exploring how marine life evolved to produce the complex oceans we see today.

The Lecture

Title: A Catastrophic Journey Through Time

At the heart of his research lies a fascination with mass extinction events: rare but transformative episodes that disrupted the normal rules of evolution and ecology, reshaping the trajectory of life on our planet. By combining fossil evidence with computational and quantitative approaches, Professor Dunhill investigates not only how ecosystems collapsed during these ancient crises, but also how they recovered, adapted, and ultimately gave rise to new forms of biological complexity.

In this inaugural lecture, A Catastrophic Journey Through Time, he will take audiences on a voyage through Earth's most dramatic biological upheavals. From ancient oceans teeming with strange life to catastrophic extinction events that rewrote the history of evolution, the lecture will reveal how the fossil record can help us understand both the resilience and vulnerability of life. Along the way, it will explore how insights from past environmental crises can provide valuable perspectives on the challenges facing the biosphere today.

Join Professor Dunhill for a fascinating journey into deep time, uncovering the ancient catastrophes that devastated primeval worlds, yet ultimately shaped the living planet we inhabit today.

A Jurassic marine ecosystem from the Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire 180 million years ago, during the recovery interval following the early Toarcian extinction event. Paleoart by James McKay.

We would like to welcome everyone – be they colleagues, postgraduate researchers, students, alumni or visitors – to this lecture celebrating the achievement and research contributions of Professor Dunhill.

The lecture will take place on Thursday 26th November 2026 at 17:00 in Liberty Building (Moot Court) LT (1.28) on the Western University of Leeds campus. The lecture will take place from 17:00-18:00 including introductions and a Q&A session, after which there will be a drinks reception. Registration is free of charge.

If you have any questions about this lecture, or about the ESS Inaugural Lecture Series, please direct them by email to Dr Izzy Jenkinson (Faculty Events and Communications Officer) at I.K.S.Jenkinson@leeds.ac.uk.