Mr Jacob Blokland

I come from a small, rural area called Broadfields in Canterbury, New Zealand, with a background in geology and biological sciences, which I studied at University of Canterbury. Upon completing my MSc there, which focused on the description, comparison, palaeobiology and phylogenetics relating to Paleocene (~62-60 million-year-old) fossil penguins from Chatham Island, I moved to South Australia in 2018 to pursue avian palaeontology.

I am generally passionate about the comparative anatomy of birds and its application to understanding extinct life. Under the supervision of Associate Professor Trevor H. Worthy and Professor Mike S. Y. Lee, my PhD research focuses on the cosmopolitan and speciose bird family Rallidae (rails, moorhens, coots, crakes and allies), particularly Oligocene and Miocene fossils of around 26 to 16 million-years-old. This project predominately involves taxonomic descriptions and comparisons of fossil forms, as well as a large component associated with phylogenetic inference, and aims to shed light on the relationships of these ancient forms to their living counterparts, and the patterns and processes relating to the modern radiation. I am also involved in projects other aimed at developing our understanding of bird evolution. Australia.

As part of the Flinders Palaeontology Research Group, I am grateful to be involved in the BSc (Palaeontology) degree, where I teach part of the Scientific Illustration topic, phylogenetic inference in the 3rd year Vertebrate Palaeontology, supervise student research project, and assist in tuition where palaeoornithology is a focus. Since 2020, I have also been preparing bird skeletons for the Flinders University Vertebrate Collection (FUVC).

I am also Oasis Project Development Officer at Oasis – Student Wellbeing Centre, where I am involved in supporting connection, community and wellbeing at Flinders, including the coordination of Flinders Mates and the Flinders Community Market.