Andrew Flynn
Biography
Andrew Flynn
Assistant Professor
Office: Gardiner Hall Rm. 156
Ph.D. Geosciences – Baylor University, 2020
B.S. Geology – Miami University, 2011
Research Interests:
Paleobotany, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, Magnetostratigraphy, Paleomagnetism, Sedimentology & Stratigraphy
My research is rooted in unraveling the deep time interactions between climate, plant life, and Earth’s surface with a focus on field-based research. I am particularly interested in how terrestrial ecosystems responded to past periods of severe upheaval, such as mass extinction or rapid climate change, and how we can use these deep-time records to predict future impacts of anthropogenic climate change. To accomplish this, I use a combination of paleobotanical, sedimentological, geochemical, and stable isotopic methods to reconstruct paleoclimate and ancient terrestrial ecosystems through time. I also use magnetostratigraphy to generate high-resolution age models to temporally constrain these results. The interdisciplinary nature of my research involves extensive collaboration with vertebrate paleontologists, geochronologists, geochemists, and sedimentologists with projects primarily focused on the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene of New Mexico and other localities in western North America.
Ongoing research projects include:
- Early Eocene climate and floral change from the San José Formation in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico
- Late Cretaceous (Santonian) fossil floras from the Crevasse Canyon Formation at the Reynolds Field Station near Datil, New Mexico
- Leaf physiognomy (size and shape) paleoclimate proxy refinement and development
Before coming to NMSU, I received my B.S. in Geology from Miami University in 2011 and my Ph.D. in Geosciences from Baylor University in 2020. I was then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Houston from 2020-2023 and was a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in 2024.
