Melissa Grey's Current and Recent Research

BROAD RESEARCH INTERESTS: My overall research interests involve exploring fundamental questions regarding the tempo and mode of evolutionary processes as they apply to morphological evolution. The fossil record is the primary source of information about rates and patterns of evolution as it allows for a deep-time perspective coupled with the potential to use rigorous statistical techniques.

Joggins Research:

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs are ideal for the study of the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) ecosystem and in particular the evolution of the flora and fauna within it. Joggins provides a unique opportunity to investigate evolution within changing ecosystems because it has preserved the richest sampling of terrestrial life during the Pennsylvanian. The fossil record at Joggins represents a broad ecological spectrum including flora and fauna from the entire food web within a variety of landscapes, such as wetlands and seasonal drylands. This work will be done in collaboration with Zoe Finkel (Mount Alison University).

Research on limestones within the Joggins Formation will take place with Peir Pufahl (Acadia University). We will place the carbonates into their stratigraphic context and this will be important to understanding how paleoenvironments evolved through time.

Articles published in refereed journals:

Grey, M., Haggart, J.W. and Smith, P.L. 2008a. Variation in Evolutionary Patterns Across the Geographic Range of a Fossil Bivalve. Science: 322, 1238-1241.

Grey, M., Haggart, J.W. and Smith, P.L. 2008b. Species discrimination and evolutionary mode of Buchia (Bivalvia: Buchiidae) from Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous strata of Grassy Island, British Columbia, Canada. Palaeontology: 51(3), 583-595.

Grey, M., Haggart, J.W. and Smith, P.L. 2008c. A new species of Buchia (Bivalvia: Buchiidae) from British Columbia, Canada, with an analysis of buchiid bipolarity. Journal of Paleontology 82(2), 422-428.

Grey, M., Haggart, J.W. and Jeletzky, J.A. 2007. Uppermost Jurassic (Portlandian) to lowermost Cretaceous (Valanginian) section at Grassy Island, west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Open-file 5666.

Grey, M., Lelievre, P.G. and Boulding, E.G. 2007. Naticid Gastropod Prey Selection of Shell Thickness on the Bivalve Protothaca staminea. The Veliger: 48(4), 317-322.

Grey, M., Blais, A.M., Hunt, B. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2006. The United States of America’s international trade in fish leather, from a conservation perspective. Environmental Conservation 33(2), 100-108.

Grey, M. and A.C.J. Vincent. 2006. The use of fish for research, product and environmental testing, and education in North America. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 16, 569-578.

Grey, M., Boulding, E.G., and Brookfield, M.E. 2006. Estimating multivariate selection gradients in the fossil record: a naticid gastropod case study. Paleobiology 32(1), 100-108.

Grey, M., Boulding, E.G., and Brookfield, M. 2005. Shape difference among boreholes drilled by three species of naticid gastropods. Journal of Molluscan Studies 71(3), 253-256.

Grey, M., Blais, A.M., and Vincent, A.C.J. 2005. The curio trade of marine fish in the United States. Oryx: the International Journal of Conservation 39(4), 413-420.

Abstracts:

Grey, M., J.W. Haggart and P.L. Smith. (September, 2008) What affects patterns of evolution? Canadian Paleontology Conference Proceedings.

Grey, M., P.L. Smith and J.W. Haggart. (June, 2006) Morphometric analysis and evolution of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Buchia bivalves, British Columbia, Canada. 2nd International Palaeontological Congress, Beijing, China.

Grey, M., J.W. Haggart and P.L. Smith. (August, 2005) Assessing Mode of Evolution in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Bivalve Buchia: Application of Morphometric Statistical Analysis. Canadian Paleontology Conference Proceedings No. 3, 27 p.

Grey, M., P.L. Smith and J.W. Haggart. (June, 2005) Use of multivariate morphometrics to evaluate mode of evolution in Buchia bivalves from the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous rocks of Grassy Island, British Columbia. North American Paleontological Congress, Halifax, NS.

Grey, M., Boulding, E.G., and Brookfield, M. (July, 2001) Logistic Regression: A new tool for analysing selection in the fossil record. North American Paleontological Congress, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Grey, M., Blais, A.M., and Vincent, A.C.J. (May, 2004) Marine fish curio trade in the United States. 4th World Fisheries Congress, Vancouver, BC.