Michael D Gottfried

My research on vertebrate fossils includes expeditions exploring for fossils in Madagascar, New Zealand, the Rift Valley of Tanzania, across much of the western USA, and more recently in Antarctica and the Canadian Arctic. I study different aspects of the evolutionary response to the break-up of the ancient Southern Hemisphere supercontinent of Gondwana, mainly focusing on fossil fishes and sharks, and I look at what the fossil record can tell us about deep-time environmental change at high latitudes. My research in another area, the evolution of giant fossil sharks, led to several on-camera appearances in documentary films for the Discovery Channel (including ‘Shark Week’) and National Geographic Television. Along with my teaching on-campus, I have also been very involved in leading students on MSU Study Abroad programs to Iceland and Antarctica.