The two most recent projects funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (National Programme for R&D&I Oriented to the Challenges of Society) are shown here. The full list of national and international projects can be found at my curriculum.

Current Project (2024-2028): GLODIVOCEAN

Title

Global change and diversity from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene: the view from the deep ocean . Ref. PID2023-149894OB-I00.

Funding agency Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Duration.: 01/09/2024 – 31/08/2028

Principal investigator: Laia Alegret

 

Objectives

  • To investigate the climate evolution of the Cretaceous and the Paleogene from a deep-sea perspective, through the analysis of benthic foraminifera and their integration in multidisciplinary studies.
  • To characterise long-term and short-term perturbations of the global carbon cycle and the global climate as well as the interplay between abiotic and biotic forces.
  • To analyse whether the diversification of benthic foraminifera can help discern whether life on Earth as we know it was shaped by environmental or evolutionary processes since the Early Cretaceous.
  • Proposal or reevaluation of the formal stages of the Paleogene and their reference sections.

Project CLIMAFORAM (2020-2024)

Title

Reconstruction and high-resolution correlation of climate events across the Cretaceous and Paleogene based on foraminifera and geochemical analyses. .Ref. PID2019-105537RB-I00.

Funding agency: Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Duration: 1/06/2020 – 31/05/2024

Principal investigator: Laia Alegret

Objectives

The project pursued the analysis of large climate events of the Cretaceous and Paleogene, the associated paleoenvironmental and biotic response, and their global correlation, especially in underexplored regions such as Zealandia. Additionally, under the frame of the International Subcommission on Paleogene Stratigraphy, it aimed at analysing several outcrops to complete the definition of the stages of the Paleogene.

– Estudio de la respuesta de los ecosistemas marinos ante eventos paleoclimáticos de distinta magnitud y origen, basada en análisis micropaleontológicos y geoquímicos:

      • The Oceanic Anoxic Event OAE2.
      • Paleoclimatic changes associated with the Cretaceous/Paleogene impact event.
      • Hyperthermal events of the Paleocene and Eocene.
      • Global evolution of benthic foraminifera across the Paleogene.
      • Taxonomy of benthic foraminifera: uniformization and synonyms.

-Determinar variaciones en la resiliencia de los ecosistemas durante los eventos hipertermales.

      • Benthic foraminiferal resilience across rapid events.
      • Long-term changes in the resilience of benthic foraminifera.
      • Relation between resilience of benthic foraminifera and the magnitude of events.

Research lines followed to achieve the objectives

 

People

 

Laia Alegret (Principal Investigator)

Luis Auqué (University of Zaragoza)

Matías Reolid (University of Jaén)

Ellen Thomas (Yale University, USA)

Roger Summons (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Gerald R. Dickens (Trinity College, Ireland)

Rupert Sutherland (Victoria University, New Zealand)

Simonetta Monechi (University of Florencia, Italy)

Thomas Westerhold (MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany)

Claudia Agnini (University of Padova, Italy)

Julio Sepúlveda (University Boulder Colorado, USA)

Edoardo Dallanave (University of Bremen, Germany)

Carlos Sánchez-Quiñónez (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)

Gabriela de Jesús Arreguín-Rodríguez (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California)

Francesca Falzoni (Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy)

Lucía Rivero-Cuesta. Pre-doctoral student (FPI) of the former project CGL2014-58794-P, PI: Alegret), PhD thesis presented in 2021.

Irene Peñalver Clavel. Pre-doctoral student (FPI) of the project.

Julia de Entrambasaguas. Pre-doctoral student (FPI) of the project.

Publications

The project generated 34 research articles in journals of the Science Citation Index, 6 scientific publications in other national and international journals, 3 books, 3 book chapters, and 5 outreach articles. These publications are included in my CV.

Dissemination of results

The results of the project have been presented in:

 

-Six plenary conferences, and 13 outreach talks (by L. Alegret):

    • Contribution of benthic foraminifera to the study of fundamental problems in Earth´s history. Keynote lecture, Cushman Foundation Symposium, GSA Connects 2022, 11/10/2022, Denver, Colorado.
    • Global events of the Paleogene: towards a refined and complete record. 4th International Congress on Stratigraphy, STRATI 2023. Lille (Francia), 12/07/2023.
    • Micropaleontología en evolución: los foraminíferos en el estudio del cambio climático y otros eventos globales. Conferencia plenaria, XIV Jornadas Aragonesas de Paleontología “Paleontología en Evolución”.
    • Extinciones masivas en la historia de la Tierra. Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales de España. 20/05/2021
    • La especie de cambió el clima del futuro, y se asustó leyendo el pasado. San Braulio laudatory speech 2024, Paraninfo, University of Zaragoza. 26/03/2024
    • Cambio climático y fósiles: una mirada al pasado para entender el futuro. Opening lecture 2024. Fundación Duques de Soria de Ciencia y Cultura hispánica. 3/7/2024

- 67 presentations in national and international scientific conferences

- Two TV shows:

- A science podcast

- Several activities of science outreach, including:

 

- Media. The media has echoed the results of the project, some examples (see also media)

 

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