CV

Jonathan Tennant

Mob: (+44) 7921252367 | E-mail: jon.tennant.2@gmail.com  | ORCID: 0000-0001-7794-0218

EDUCATION

September 2012-Present – Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London

Thesis: The Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary: a hidden mass extinction? (NERC funded)

Supervisors: Phil Mannion (ICL), Paul Upchurch (UCL), Mark Sutton (ICL)

2010-2011 – Imperial College London and Natural History Museum, London

MSc in Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity; Result: Merit and Diploma of Imperial College London

Modules: Ordination Techniques, Theoretical and Applied Biodiversity, Phylogenetics, Molecular Systematics, and Bioinformatics. Completed projects included lepidopteran phylogeny, adaptive radiation of ornithopods, molecular systematics of Coleoptera, and geometric morphometrics, and a poster on beetle community ecology.

Dissertation: “A Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Ruminant (Ungulata: Artiodactyla) and Ornithopod (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) Snouts: Comparative and Functional Ecomorphology” (12,500 words); Norman MacLeod, Natural History Museum (link).

I utilised a variety of advanced geometric morphometric techniques to assess the validity of using snout shape to discriminate between browsing and grazing ruminants, and to see if any patterns could be extrapolated back to their putative extinct analogues – ornithopod dinosaurs – to infer feeding strategies.

 2006-2010 – University of Manchester

MEarthSci Geology (Hons.); Result: 1st class

Modules covered a broad spectrum of the Earth Sciences. I also undertook numerous field courses in Spain, Wales, Scotland and England for various lengths of time.

4th year dissertation: “An Osteological Description and Analysis of a Near-Complete Skeleton of Tenontosaurus tilletti (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Cloverly Formation, Montana, USA” (32,000 words); John Nudds, University of Manchester (link) (data) – Direct analysis and description of an exceptional dinosaur specimen. I taught myself professional drawing skills and how to fully describe the vertebrate skeleton.

3rd year dissertation: “Geology of the Carboneras Fault Zone, Carboneras, South-East Spain” (10,000 words) – 6 week mapping project in SE Spain. Involved systematically mapping a range of geological structures, including a wide fault zone, an extensional fault system, and a sedimentary basin and range province.

2002-2006 – Beauchamp College

3 A-levels: Maths (B), Geography (B) and Geology (B);  2 AS-levels: Chemistry and General Studies; 10 GCSEs: 9 A-C grades including Sciences, English and Maths

WORK EXPERIENCE

PLOS Paleo Community Editor, 01 Sept 2015 – 01 Sept, 2016

  • Managing of social media presence
  • Writing and editing material for PLOS blogs network
  • Organising community events and conference attendance

Policy Intern, 14th May 2012 – 28th September 2012, Geological Society of London

  • Writing responses to governmental consultations on behalf of the Society
  • Aided with website relocation/rebuilding, including the Key Stage 4, Geoscientist and Policy sections
  • Contributed to engagement activities through Twitter, blogging, and website articles
  • Contributed to organising a Shale Gas meeting at the Society, with large and varied attendance
  • Established an MP Shadowing Scheme for Fellows of the Society
  • Continued liaison throughout my PhD

October 2011-May 2012, University of Leicester

Volunteering under the supervision of Prof. Mark Purnell within the Palaeobiology Group, looking at varying aspects of Micropalaeontology and Invertebrate Palaeontology.

2010-2011, Natural History Museum, London

Volunteering under the supervision of Dr. Paul Barrett in the vertebrate palaeontology collections. Projects included extensive cataloguing of all the type specimens in the dinosaur collection.

ACADEMIC MEMBERSHIPS

  • Elected Fellow of the Geological Society of London
  • Member of the Palaeontological Association, Palaeontological Society, the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology, Society of Systematic Biologists, and the Willi Hennig Society
  • Member of Campaign for Science and Engineering and Science is Vital

GRANTS AWARDED

  • £150 towards 3rd year undergraduate field mapping in Spain
  • NERC scholarship (ca. £7500) towards my second Master’s degree
  • £1344 from the Imperial College Biology Department towards Masters tuition fees
  • £1540 from the Palaeontological Society for developing the Palaeocast project
  • £2000 from the Palaeontological Association for developing the Palaeocast project
  • Full NERC studentship for PhD at Imperial College (2012-2015)
  • $600 Jackson School of Geoscience Travel Grant for SVP 2013 (Los Angeles)
  • £200 award from Palaeontological Association for Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology attendance
  • £750 Palaeontological Association travel grant for IPC4 (August, 2014)
  • $500 early career travel award from PLOS towards SVP attendance (October, 2015)

ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant at the School of Earth Science and Engineering for first and second year modules (October 2012-present), and Dorset Field course (March 2013)
  • Excellent knowledge of most areas of IT, with the ability to use all Microsoft Office programs, Adobe Illustrator, Petrel, ImageTool, ImageJ, Image-Pro Plus, PCA, the tps software series, and the capability to adapt to new software with ease. Special instruction in PAUP, PAST, and R in the context of cladistic and macroevolutionary analysis, and Mathematica for geometric morphometrics
  • Have been instructed in most current analytical equipment relevant to Earth Sciences, with special practical instruction in the use of the Scanning Electron Microscope and Camera Lucida
  • Student representative (2008-2010), University of Manchester
  • Student mentor for younger undergraduates (2008-2010)
  • Community Specialist for F1000; ImpactStory Advisor (Advisor of the Month, June 2014)

 

REFEREES

Dr. John Nudds

Senior lecturer in Palaeontology, Masters project supervisor

Address: Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL

E-mail: john.nudds@manchester.ac.uk

Prof. Norman MacLeod

Keeper of Palaeontology, Masters project supervisor

Address: Palaeontology Department, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

E-mail: n.macleod@nhm.ac.uk

Nic Bilham

Head of Strategy and External Relations, Geological Society of London

Address: Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BG

E-mail: nic.bilham@geolsoc.org.uk