Jonathan Payne in Mongolia

Jonathan Payne is the Dorrell William Kirby Professor in the department of Earth and planetary sciences and the senior associate dean for faculty affairs in Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. Through his research, he seeks to understand how Earth and life have co-evolved over the past four billion years, with a particular focus on identifying the causes of ancient mass extinction events, controls on subsequent recovery of the biosphere, and lessons that we can take to our current biodiversity crisis. He teaches courses for undergraduates addressing the history of Earth and life, the early evolution of animals, and the causes of extinction both past and present.

On this trip he will provide an overview of the ongoing geological processes that have generated the spectacular landscape of Mongolia. He will further discuss the natural resources of Mongolia and their role in its future, the first discovery of dinosaur eggs and maternal care in dinosaurs at the Flaming Cliffs and the broader role of these fossil deposits in our understanding of dinosaur biology, the takhi – Mongolia’s native wild horse – and the broader challenges of conservation of mammalian megafauna and potential rewilding efforts, and the genetic evidence for human migration and ancestry in the context of Genghis Khan and the evidence that he is an ancestry of a noticeable fraction of the population across Asia. He has spent numerous field seasons studying ancient mass extinction events across the globe, including in nearby China, and believes that there is no better way to discover our planet than to explore it on foot.

• At Stanford: Dorrell William Kirby Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and (by courtesy) of Biology; senior associate dean for faculty affairs; previously chair, Department of Geological (now Earth and Planetary) Sciences

• Allan V. Cox Medal for Excellence in Advising Undergraduate Research, Stanford University

• Charles Schuchert Award (early career award), Paleontological Society

• Ph.D., Harvard University, Earth and Planetary Sciences

• B.A., Williams College, Geosciences