Sinjini Sinha
M.S., Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of Southampton, UK, 2016
M.S., Geology, University of Delhi, India, 2015
B.S., Geology, University of Delhi, India, 2013
Supervisor |
Sinjini Sinha is a Ph.D. candidate in the Martindale lab. Her doctoral research is about assessing the impacts of environmental changes on Early Jurassic exceptional preservation, extinction, and recovery. She uses Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy to investigate the taphonomy of Lagerstätten deposits from the UK and Germany. Her extinction and recovery work involves studying the community structure of level-bottom communities from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Her previous research focused on the systematics and paleoecology of Late Cretaceous sharks from central India and southern England as well as on the diversity of early Paleocene bony fishes from western Canada.
Graduate Teaching Showcase Presenter - University of Texas at Austin, USA (2024)
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award - National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) (2024)
Endowed Presidential Fellowship - University of Texas at Austin, USA (2023 - 2024)
Stanford Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Sciences and Medicine (PRISM) fellow - Stanford University (2023)
Positive mental health in the Geosciences workshop award - Science Education Resource Centre (SERC) and Geological Society of America (GSA) (2023)
"On To the Future” alumni mentor award - National Science Foundation and Geological Society of America (2023)
Rocky Mountain section travel grant - Geological Society of America (2023)
Geoscience education division travel grant - Geological Society of America (2023)
Graduate Student Research Grant - Geological Society of America (2023 - 2024)
Student research grant - Paleontological Society (2023 - 2024)
Off-campus research grant - Jackson School of Geosciences (2022 - 2023)
Research grant - DAAD (German Academic and Exchange Service) (2022)
University of Texas Graduate Continuing Fellowship - University of Texas at Austin (2022 - 2023)
Rocky Mountain Section travel grant - Geological Society of America (2021)
Ingerson Grad Research Assistance Fellowship - Jackson School of Geosciences (2021)
Tilly Edinger Travel grant - TimeScavengers (2021)
Lewis and Clark Fund - American Philosophical Society (2021 - 2022)
Evolving Earth student grant - Evolving Earth Foundation (2021 - 2022)
Grant matching award - Jackson School of Geosciences (2020 - 2022)
GSA Graduate Student Research Grant - Geological Society of America (2020 - 2022)
Mid-American Paleontology Society (MAPS) Outstanding Student Research Award - Paleontological Society (2020 - 2022)
International Geological Congress 2020 Travel Grant - Geological Society of America and U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Geological Sciences (2019)
Professional Development Award - Geological Society of America and University of Arkansas, USA (2019)
South eastern Section grant - Geological Society of America (2019)
Graduate Student Association travel award - University of Alberta, Canada (2018)
Department of Biological Sciences travel award - University of Alberta, Canada (2018)
On To the Future Award - Geological Society of America (2017)
Graduate Scholarship in Vertebrate Paleontology - University of Alberta, Canada (2017)
Mentoring and Diversity in Earth System Science Workshop Award - Geological Society of America and University of Cincinnati, USA (2017)
Rocky Mountain Section grant - Geological Society of America (2017)
Commonwealth Shared Scholarship - Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, UK (2015 - 2016)
Hansraj College Merit Award - Hansraj College, University of Delhi, India (2013)
All India Post-Graduate merit award - University of Delhi, India (2013 - 2015)
Voting member, Student Advisory Council, Geological Society of America (2024 - Present)
Peer mentor, On To the Future fellows, Geological Society of America (2023)
Field trip co-leader, Undergraduate Honors Research Program in Southern Germany, Jackson School of Geosciences, UT Austin (2023)
Session facilitator (online), Climate Solutions brainstorming session, Geological Society of America and National Science Foundation (2021)
Pardee session Co-Convener, Challenges and Solutions for a Changing Climate: New Directions for GSA, Geological Society of America (2020)
Fireside chat moderator, Climate change and advocacy panel, Geology and Society Division, Geological Society of America (2019)
Session convener, Mineral and Energy Extraction: Impacts on Society and Health, Geological Society of America (2019)
Student Representative, Geology and Society Division, Geological Society of America (2018 - 2020)
Student Advisory Council member, Geological Society of America (2018 - 2020)
Vice President (Academics), University of Alberta Paleontological Society (2017 - 2019)
Session chair, Paleontology, Phylogenetic/Morphological Patterns: Vertebrates, Geological Society of America (2017)
University Representative, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, UK (2015 - 2016)
INVITED: "Evolution of macrofauna through geologic time", Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA (2023)
Functional diversity of the Early Jurassic macrofauna from Morocco, Geological Society of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (2023)
Research, collaboration, mentorship, and leadership initiatives as an On to The Future alumna, Geological Society of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (2023)
Assessing the benthic community structure in the Early Jurassic of Morocco, Jackson School of Geosciences annual research symposium, Austin, Texas, USA (2023)
Taxonomic assessment of Early Jurassic macrofauna from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Jackson School of Geosciences annual research symposium, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas, USA (2022)
Level bottom macrofaunal community structure in the Early Jurassic of Morocco, International Congress on the Jurassic Systems, Budapest, Hungary (2022)
The impact of Jurassic hyperthermals on the evolution of Moroccan level bottom communities, International Paleontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand (2022)
Taphonomy of the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte and its relationship to the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, Jackson School of Geosciences annual research symposium, Austin, Texas, USA (2021)
Taxonomic assessment of Early Jurassic macrofauna from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Geological Society of America, Portland, Oregon (2021)
INVITED: Taphonomy of the Early Jurassic Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte and its relationship to the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, Paleontological Society of Austin, Texas, USA (2020)
Taphonomy of the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte and its relationship to the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, Geological Society of America, (online) (2020)
Comparison of early Paleocene ichthyofaunal diversity from Croc Pot and Roche Percee localities, Ravenscrag Formation, southern Saskatchewan, Canada, North American Paleontological Convention, Riverside, California, USA (2019)
INVITED: "Why is Palaeontology interesting?", Geovale Services, Saltlake, Kolkata, India (2019)
Morphological changes of vertebral centra in the extant Northern Pike (Esox lucius) and its paleontological significance, Geological Society of America, Phoenix, Arizona, USA (2019)
INVITED: "Late Cretaceous Sharks and the Lilliput effect!", University of Alberta Palaeontological Society, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2019)
Early Paleocene ichthyofauna from the Ravenscrag Formation, southern Saskatchewan, Canada, Canadian Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (2018)
INVITED, "Scope and Future of Palaeontology", Ashutosh College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India (2018)
Palaeoecological and morphometric study of Late Cretaceous shark fauna from the English Chalk, 129th annual meeting Geological Society of America, Seattle, Washington, USA (2017)
Palaeoecological and morphometric study of the late cretaceous shark fauna from the chalk of England, 5th annual meeting Canadian Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada (2017)
Sinha, S., Brinkman, D., Murray, A. & Krause, D. (2021). Late Paleocene fishes of the Ravenscrag Formation, Roche Percée area, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 41. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2021.1957907?src=.
Sinha, S., Brinkman, D. & Murray, A. (2019). A morphological study of vertebral centra in extant species of pike, Esox (Teleostei: Esociformes). Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology, 7. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.php/VAMP/article/view/29357.
Sinha, S., Muscente, A.D., Schiffbauer, J.D., Schweigert, G., Williams, M. & Martindale, R.C.. (2021). Global controls on phosphatization of fossils during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. Scientific Reports. https://rdcu.be/cDkDq.
Muscente, A.D., Vinnes, O., Sinha, S., Schiffbauer, J.D., Maxwell, E.E., Schweigert, G. & Martindale, R.C. (2023). What role does anoxia play in exceptional fossil preservation? Lessons from the taphonomy of the Posidonia Shale (Germany). Earth Science Reviews, 238(104323). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104323.
Martindale, R.C., Sulbaran-Reyes, B.S., Sinha, S. & Cooc, N. (2023). Reef Survivor: A new board game designed to teach college and university undergraduate students about reef ecology, evolution, and extinction.. Journal of Geoscience Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2023.2221818.