Halard Lescinsky
Otterbein College

Research Interests

As a trained paleontologist, my research interests lie in the long-term patterns that have shaped the history of life and the earth. My early work focused on the ecology of Paleozoic brachiopods and evolutionary patterns ancient community of organisms that encrusted and bored into shells and lived on rocky shores. Although much of my interest has shifted, I maintain an interest in the life orientation and shape of Rafinesquina, a common 400 mya brachiopod from southern Ohio.

Rafinesquina alternata from the Upper Ordovician of southern Ohio

My recent work has investigated processes of encrustation and boring in modern settings with an interest in applying this information back to ancient settings. One recent project examined how shells, like those in the Ordovician of southern Ohio would have become fossilized (the process of taphonomy) by doing modern experiments in muddy bottom assemblages of the Java Sea as a model (Lescinsky et al., 2002). I also have similar studies examining the potential for coral to break down going on in central Belize (Lescinsky 2004). These experiments are often integrated into the coral reef ecology class (LSC 319) in which students travel to Belize for two weeks to learn about coral reefs.

Belize Taphonomy Experiments on corals and conch shells- examining how material is broken down by boring organisms

In addition to modern taphonomy experiments, I have also been investigating similar processes in sub-fossil reefs that have been uplifted out of the water. These reefs can now be examined using both biological and geological methods and provide an avenue for understanding the ecology of ancient reefs, and the structure of modern reefs, prior to recent human impacts. I have investigated the structure of exposed reefs in Papua New Guinea (Pandolfi et al 2006), Curacao (Lescinsky 2006), and I am currently working with 2 Otterbein students in the Dominican Republic on a similar project. These projects strive to compare modern reef construction with that in the recent past in order to determine whether modern reef die-off and change is a natural process or related to current human impacts on the reef ecosystem. I expect to work in the Dominican Republic for the next several years.

Fossil Reefs and corals, Dominican Republic, September 2006