Julia A Clarke
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
John A. and Katherine G. Jackson Chair in Geobiology (Holder)
Peter T. Flawn Centennial Chair in Geology (Fellow)
Mailcode: C1100
Julia A. Clarke is a Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin where she holds the Jackson Chair in Geobiology. She is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. She has published over 150 papers including 16 in the journals Nature and Science.
She is interested in how new structures and functions arise in deep time with a focus on the evolution of dinosaurs including birds. She has worked on evolution of the musculoskeletal system (in flight and wing propelled diving) and more recently on the evolution of visual and vocal communication. She has an international field program in paleontology (e.g. in Antarctica, South America, Asia) and has led highly interdisciplinary collaborative teams integrating data on living animals to ask new questions of the fossil record.
Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Humboldt Foundation, The National Geographic Society, Explorers Club, AAAS, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and has been covered by NPRÂ’s Science Friday, The New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic Magazine, NOVA, and other outlets. She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, American Ornithological Society, and The Anatomical Society. She received her degrees from Brown University (B.A) and Yale University (PhD).
Areas of Expertise
Evolution of anatomical novelty, vertebrate paleontology, systematic biology, avian vocalization and the evolution of flight, fossil birds. Dinosaurs.
Research Locations
Current Research Programs & Projects
Wings to Flippers - Phylogenetics, character acquisition, and feather biomechanics in the evolution of wing-propelled diving
Early ornithurine bird evolution
Evolution of flight
Fellow (FRSB) - Royal Society of Biology (2018)
Elective Member, an honorary membership category that recognizes contributions to ornithology - American Ornithological Society (2017)
Humboldt Research Award - Humboldt Foundation (2016)
Provost's Teaching Fellow - The University of Texas (2016)
Outstanding Research Award - Jackson School of Geoscience (2013)
Knebel Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award - Jackson School of Geosciences (2012)
Gigapan Science Outreach Fellow - Fine Foundation/NASA/Carnegie Mellon Robotics (2010)
Outstanding Faculty Member Engaged in Extension Award - North Carolina State University (2008)
NSF Research Highlights - OISE Directorates (2007)
G.G. Simpson Award - Yale University (2006)
Argentine Fulbright Commission, 50th anniversary volume, distinguished alumna (2006)
NSF Research Highlights - OPP Directorates (2005)
Sigma Xi - Full Associate Member - Brown University (2004)
Orville Prize-best dissertation in the Earth Sciences - Yale University (2001)
G.G. Simpson Award - Yale University (2001)
Hutchinson Prize Fellowship for Biospheric Studies - Yale Institute (2000)
Estwing Hammer Prize for outstanding research in Geology - Yale University (2000)
Henry Gardiner Ferguson Fellowship in Geology - Yale University (1999)
Graduate Student Fellowship - National Science Foundation (1997 - 2000)
Arnold Prize Fellowship for undergraduate achievement and an original research project ($15,000; declined to accept Fulbright Grant). - Brown University (1995)
Sigma Xi - Brown University (1995)
Phi Beta Kappa - Brown University (1994)
Associate Editor, Science Advances, Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, Evolution (2018)
Associate Editor, Paleobiology (2013)
Co-Editor in Chief, Journal of Anatomy (2012 - 2018)
Editor in Vertebrate Morphology, Zoologischer Anzeiger (2011 - 2012)
Executive Committee, Member-At-Large, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2008 - 2011)
Operations Committee, Member-At-Large, National Center for Evolutionary Synthesis (NESCent.org) (2007 - 2008)
Session moderator, Meetings of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2006 - 2007)
Editor in Vertebrate Morphology and Paleontology, Journal of Anatomy (2005 - 2011)
Chair, Predoctoral Fellowship Committee, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2004 - 2006)
Sigma Xi Grants, Aid of Research, Committee (2004)
Governing Council, Member-At-Large, International Society of Phylogenetic Nomenclature (2004 - 2006)
Predoctoral Fellowship Committee, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2003 - 2008)
Co-convener, "Missing Data- Practical Problems and Theoretical Issues" Symposium, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2000)
Organizing committee member and moderator, "New Perspectives on the Origin and Early Evolution of Birds: an International Symposium in Honor of John H. Ostrom,", Yale Peabody Museum and Yale University Department of Geology and Geophysics (1999)
NSF Panelist: Systematics (BIO),
NSF Referee: Systematics (BIO), Paleobiology (EAR), and Polar Programs (OPP),
NERC Referee, UK: Fellows Program,
National Geographic Society, Exploration Fund Referee,
One current postdocs, four graduate students and an array of undergraduate researchers are focused on broad questions concerning evolutionary morphology and the deep time diversification of birds.
Right now we are focused on the evolution of early bird lineages, feathering and wing morphology, wing propelled diving and the origin of bird song. Some student projects are focused on other archosaur lineages and other character systems such as the evolution of armor.
Postdocs
Xia Wang, 2013 - 2015, University of Jinan
Assistant Professor
Daniel Ksepka, 2007 - 2009, Columbia University, (PhD) now Postdoctoral Associate, NESCENT
Chad Eliason
Sterling Nesbitt
Graduate Students
Gavin Blanchard
(Co-supervisor)
I'm broadly interested in the co-evolution of the planet and life on it. More specifically, I'm interested in the effects of mantle convection and plate tectonics on the evolution of landscapes and the subsequent effects of surface landscape changes on the diversification and distribution of organisms throughout time.
Christopher Torres, Ph.D.
(Co-supervisor)
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Sarah Davis, Ph.D., 2022
(Supervisor)
Jackson School of Geosciences
Grace Musser, Ph.D., 2022
(Supervisor)
Jackson School of Geosciences
Jasmine Nelson, M.S., 2021
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Lauren English, Ph.D., 2018
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
James Proffitt, Ph.D., 2018
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Zhiheng Li, Ph.D., 2015
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Katherine Browne, M.S., 2014
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
A.J. DeBee, Ph.D., 2012
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences, UT Austin
Drew Eddy, M.S., 2008
(Supervisor)
NCSU
"New information on the skull of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis and the phylogenetic relationships of the Allosauroidea"
Clint Boyd, Ph.D., 2005
(Supervisor)
"Taxonomic revision of the North American neorithischia, implications for ornithischian phylogeny"
Adam Smith, Ph.D., 2001
(Supervisor)
"Phylogeny and evolution of extinct and extant Alcidae (Aves, Charadriiformes)"
Undergraduate Students
There are always about 5 undergraduate doing reseach in the lab. They are typically listed on my CV. I started an undergraduate "research fair" in paleontology where we link up faculty, graduate students and undergraduate collaborators across the program.
See CV,
| Year | Semester | Course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Spring | GEO 302D | Age Of Dinosaurs |
| 2025 | Fall | GEO 322E | Scientific Research Design |
| 2025 | Fall | GEO 382E | Scientific Research Design |
| 2023 | Fall | GEO 382E | Scientific Research Design |
| 2023 | Fall | GEO 322E | Scientific Research Design |
| 2022 | Fall | GEO 322E | Scientific Research Design |
| 2022 | Fall | GEO 382E | Scientific Research Design |
| 2021 | Fall | GEO 405 | Life Through Time |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 371T | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn-Wb |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 391 | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn-Wb |
| 2020 | Spring | GEO 371T | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2020 | Spring | GEO 391 | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2019 | Fall | GEO 405 | Life Through Time |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 371T | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 391 | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2018 | Fall | GEO 405 | Life Through Time |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 291 | Asian Monsoon |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 391 | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 371T | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2017 | Fall | GEO 405 | Life Through Time |
| 2017 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2017 | Spring | GEO 371T | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2017 | Spring | GEO 391 | Rsrch Dsgn/Data Anly/Visltn |
| 2016 | Fall | GEO 405 | Life Through Time |
| 2016 | Spring | GEO 371T | Rsch Mthd/Anly/Vis Paleobio |
| 2016 | Spring | GEO 391 | Rsch Mthd/Anly/Vis Paleobio |
| 2014 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Systematic Paleontol |
| 2014 | Fall | GEO 405 | Life Through Time |
| 2014 | Fall | GEO 371C | Avian Anatomy |
| 2014 | Fall | GEO 391 | Avian Anatomy |
| 2014 | Spring | GEO 394 | Rsch In Systematic Paleontol |