Carrie Tyler

Professor, UNLV Department of Geoscience
Expertise: Marine conservation, Paleobiology, Paleoecology, Evolution of marine invertebrates, Taphonomy

Biography

Carrie Tyler is a marine conservation paleobiologist whose research focuses on understanding the evolution of underwater ecosystems, particularly how marine food webs respond to dramatic change, and the relationship between biodiversity and marine food webs throughout ancient history to modern day.

Tyler, who joined UNLV's faculty in 2022, examines the effects of prey consumption and environmental changes on ecosystems — especially in the modern rocky intertidal, or range between high and low tide lines. Her work also seeks to assess the quality of fossils and determine ways to use that information to inform paleoecology, as well as conservation law and policy.

In addition to wrestling with topics such as past climate change and natural resources, students in Tyler's classes also learn about ecosystem functioning and recovery, habitat loss, and mass extinction.

Education

  • Ph.D., Geosciences, Virginia Tech
  • M.S., Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, San Diego University
  • B.A., Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder

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Carrie Tyler In The News

Cope
Humans began to alter environments long before records were kept of the things that lived in them, making it difficult for scientists to determine what healthy ecosystems should look like. The researchers have now shown that the recent fossil record preserves an authoritative snapshot of marine environments as they existed before humans.
Popular Science
As we plunge into Earth’s sixth stage of mass extinction (that we are aware of), biologists looking to conserve and restore ecosystems that have been stripped of plant and animal life can face a pretty daunting task. However, help is on the way in the form of some of the ocean’s worms, mollusks, and crabs. A study published July 11 in the journal PeerJ, finds that fossils from these groups are actually preserved in the fossil record in proportion to their diversity, making for a solid source of information about past ecosystems.
Deeper Blue
Researchers from the University of Nevada Las Vegas have published findings in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, highlighting how by looking at marine food web fossils, we can get a glimpse into the future of climate change effects.
Nature World News
Have we damaged marine life too much for it to recover?

Articles Featuring Carrie Tyler

Graduation surprise
Campus News | August 1, 2023

News stories from the summer featuring UNLV students and faculty.