WELCOME!

My name is Tammo Reichgelt.

I am a paleobotanist, Assistant Professor in Residence at the Department of Geosciences, University of Connecticut, and Associate Adjunct Research Professor at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. I am fascinated by the interaction between plants and the environment throughout Earth's history, especially as it informs modern and future climate change.

Plants make up the vast majority of the terrestrial biosphere. They shape their environment and they are shaped by it. Because plants have such an intimate relationship with Earth's climate, plant fossils are the best tools available for understanding the evolution of terrestrial environments. My work disentangles the connection between plants and their environment through physiology, anatomy and biogeography, and I use my findings to reconstruct Earth's geological and ecological history. More information on my specific projects can be found here.



From left to right: 12 million year old fossil podocarp, measuring an overgrown section on the West Coast in New Zealand (Middle photo by Nic Barth.), and 100x magnification of a 23 million year old fossil leaf.


Research

Cenozoic climatic and biotic evolution of New Zealand.
Plants and carbon dioxide.
Meta-analysis of plant distribution and climate.
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Publications

List of publications

Reichgelt T, West CK, Greenwood DR 2018.The relation between global palm distribution and climate. Scientific Reports 8, 4721. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23147-2

Greenwood DR, Keefe RL, Reichgelt T, Webb JA 2017. Eocene paleobotanical altimetry of Victoria's Eastern Uplands. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 64, 625-637. DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2017.1318793
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