Elizabeth Harper
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge Open University
Scientific career
ThesisThe evolution of the cemented habit in the bivalved molluscs (1991)

Elizabeth M. Harper (Liz) is an evolutionary biologist known for her work on molluscs. She is an honorary fellow of the British Antarctic Survey and was accorded the title of Honorary Professor by the University of Cambridge in 2019.

Education and career

Harper was born in Ipswich, Suffolk. She has a B.A. (and M.A Cantab) from the University of Cambridge and earned her doctorate from the Open University.[1] As of 2021, Harper is a professor at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Gonville and Caius college.[2] Harper has used the collections at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences for her research, and she was made an honorary curator of the invertebrate paleontology in 2004, and has twice served as acting director of the museum.[3] In 2019, the University of Cambridge bestowed the title of Honorary Professor of Evolutionary Malacology on Harper.[4]

As of June 2023, Harper is the Director of Studies in Earth Sciences, as well as a College Lecturer,[5] at Gonville and Caius college.

Research

Harper's research focuses on molluscan biology and biomineralization. Her early research used genome size in living organisms to infer genome size in fossils.[6] She has subsequently examined the process of biomineralization,[7] or how bivalves make cement,[8][9] how pteropods repair their shells,[10] and the factors controlling the shape of shells in blue mussels[11] and oysters.[12] She has defined the factors controlling feeding on molluscs by examining drilling into shells,[13][14] and worked on a collaborative project that considered multiple areas of research to define the origins of bivalves.[15] Harper's research includes investigations into how different species of molluscs may respond to future changes in water chemistry,[16][17] most recently revealing how brachiopods are able to alter the thickness of their shell under conditions that would lead to increased dissolution of their shells.[18] She has lectured at The Perse School on the origins of molluscs, and how shells can explain adaptions of organisms to the environment.[19]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

In 1990, Harper received the President's Award from the Palaeontological Association.[20] As of 2021, Harper is named an honorary fellow of the British Antarctic Survey.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Professor Liz Harper". Caius College Website. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ↑ "Professor Elizabeth Harper". 24 January 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences - News 2017". www.sedgwickmuseum.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Notices by the General Board - Cambridge University Reporter 6562". www.admin.cam.ac.uk. Vol. 4, no. 6562. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Professor Liz Harper". Gonville & Caius. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  6. ↑ Morris, S. Conway; Harper, E. (2 September 1988). "Genome Size in Conodonts (Chordata): Inferred Variations During 270 Million Years". Science. 241 (4870): 1230–1232. Bibcode:1988Sci...241.1230C. doi:10.1126/science.241.4870.1230. PMID 17740786. S2CID 11800570.
  7. ↑ Harper, E. M. (2000). "Are calcitic layers an effective adaptation against shell dissolution in the Bivalvia?". Journal of Zoology. 251 (2): 179–186. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00602.x. ISSN 1469-7998.
  8. ↑ HARPER, ELIZABETH M. (1992). "Post-Larval Cementation in the Ostreidae and ITS Implications for Other Cementing Bivalvia". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 58 (1): 37–47. doi:10.1093/mollus/58.1.37. ISSN 0260-1230.
  9. ↑ HARPER, E. M (1991). "The role of predation in the evolution of cementation in bivalves". The Role of Predation in the Evolution of Cementation in Bivalves. 34 (2): 455–460. ISSN 0031-0239.
  10. ↑ Peck, Victoria L.; Oakes, Rosie L.; Harper, Elizabeth M.; Manno, Clara; Tarling, Geraint A. (2018). "Pteropods counter mechanical damage and dissolution through extensive shell repair". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 264. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9..264P. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02692-w. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 5772362. PMID 29343708.
  11. ↑ Telesca, Luca; Michalek, Kati; Sanders, Trystan; Peck, Lloyd S.; Thyrring, Jakob; Harper, Elizabeth M. (2018). "Blue mussel shell shape plasticity and natural environments: a quantitative approach". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 2865. arXiv:1802.04532. Bibcode:2018NatSR...8.2865T. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20122-9. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5809382. PMID 29434221.
  12. ↑ Checa, Antonio G.; Harper, Elizabeth M.; González-Segura, Alicia (2018). "Structure and crystallography of foliated and chalk shell microstructures of the oyster Magallana: the same materials grown under different conditions". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 7507. Bibcode:2018NatSR...8.7507C. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25923-6. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5951953. PMID 29760483.
  13. ↑ Harper, Elizabeth M.; Forsythe, Graham T. W.; Palmer, Tim (1998). "Taphonomy and the Mesozoic Marine Revolution: Preservation State Masks the Importance of Boring Predators". PALAIOS. 13 (4): 352. Bibcode:1998Palai..13..352H. doi:10.2307/3515323. ISSN 0883-1351. JSTOR 3515323.
  14. ↑ Harper, Elizabeth M. (5 December 2003). "Assessing the importance of drilling predation over the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Drilling Predation in the Fossil Record. 201 (3): 185–198. Bibcode:2003PPP...201..185H. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00624-2. ISSN 0031-0182.
  15. ↑ Bieler, Rüdiger; Mikkelsen, Paula M.; Collins, Timothy M.; Glover, Emily A.; González, Vanessa L.; Graf, Daniel L.; Harper, Elizabeth M.; Healy, John; Kawauchi, Gisele Y.; Sharma, Prashant P.; Staubach, Sid (2014). "Investigating the Bivalve Tree of Life – an exemplar-based approach combining molecular and novel morphological characters". Invertebrate Systematics. 28 (1): 32. doi:10.1071/IS13010. ISSN 1445-5226. S2CID 84568643.
  16. ↑ Harper, E. M.; Palmer, T. J.; Alphey, J. R. (1997). "RAPID COMMUNICATION Evolutionary response by bivalves to changing Phanerozoic sea-water chemistry". Geological Magazine. 134 (3): 403–407. doi:10.1017/S0016756897007061. ISSN 1469-5081. S2CID 140646397.
  17. ↑ Cross, Emma L.; Peck, Lloyd S.; Harper, Elizabeth M. (1 January 2015). "Ocean acidification does not impact shell growth or repair of the Antarctic brachiopod Liothyrella uva (Broderip, 1833)". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 462: 29–35. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2014.10.013. ISSN 0022-0981.
  18. ↑ Cross, Emma L.; Harper, Elizabeth M.; Peck, Lloyd S. (7 May 2019). "Thicker Shells Compensate Extensive Dissolution in Brachiopods under Future Ocean Acidification". Environmental Science & Technology. 53 (9): 5016–5026. Bibcode:2019EnST...53.5016C. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b00714. ISSN 0013-936X. PMID 30925214. S2CID 88481149.
  19. ↑ "Perse Community Lecture – 'Listening to Shells'". The Perse School Cambridge. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  20. ↑ "Medal and Award Winners List | The Palaeontological Association". www.palass.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  21. ↑ "Elizabeth Harper, Author at British Antarctic Survey". British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
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