Amelia is interested in biodiversity change over a range of timescales, from decades to millions of years. She completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, working on fossil assemblages thought to represent some of the earliest animal communities. Through that work, she developed an interest in how organisms act as ecosystem engineers, particularly in reef ecosystems. Amelia expanded on that interest during a postdoc at the Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS), investigating links between biotic modifications to the environment and the biodiversity change during early Palaeozoic evolutionary radiations, about 420 – 540 million years ago.
During her time at LUOMUS, Amelia engaged more deeply with macroecological research, and developed a strong interest in biodiversity measurement and modern biodiversity change. Since November 2020, she has been a Research Fellow in the Centre for Biological Diversity at the University of St Andrews, and she now combines investigating modern biodiversity change with an ongoing interest in longer-term perspectives.
Amelia Penny
