Dr. Lydia S. Tackett

Biography

Dr. Lydia S. Tackett is a marine paleoecologist and sedimentologist, and she uses integrated macro- and microfossil assemblages to determine the ecological feedbacks impacted by climatic events, including ocean acidification and anoxia. The fossil record is a valuable resource for training climate models in order to predict responses to climate change in marine systems, but many taxa have poor preservation potential in shallow marine environments and are likely to be missing from local datasets. Dr. Tackett's approach involves developing biogenic sediment datasets and robust stratigraphic and geochemical context to evaluate the ecological responses to extrinsic (environmental/climatic) and intrinsic (evolutionary) change. Dr. Tackett's research involves both field and laboratory work, with field regions in New Zealand and Italy, and around the United States, including Death Valley. She uses a variety of fossil types to resolve paleoecological questions, including microfossils extracted from rocks in the lab, macrofossils (shells and bones), and trace fossils.

Details

Education

• PhD, Earth Science, 2014, University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA
• BA, Anthropology, 2007, Temple University – Philadelphia, PA
  
  

Professional experience

• 2025-present Assistant Professor in the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, Missouri State University

• 2023-2025 Visiting Associate Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia

• 2020-2023 Associate Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences, North Dakota State University

• 2014-2020 Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences, North Dakota State University

Recent Publications:

Rigo, M.; Jin, X.; Godfrey, L.; Katz, M. E.; Sato, H.; Tomimatsu, Y.; Zaffani, M.; Maron, M.; Satolli, S.; Concheri, G.; Cardinali, A.; Wu, Q.; Du, Y.; Lei, J. Z. X.; van Wieren, C. S.; Tackett, L. S.; Campbell, H.; Bertinelli, A.; Onoue, T. (2024) Unveiling a New Oceanic Anoxic Event at the Norian/Rhaetian Boundary (Late Triassic). Scientific Reports 14 (1), 15574. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66343-z.

Tackett, LS, Clement*, AR, Marolt º, S (2024) “Biosediment Assemblages Reveal Disrupted Silica Cycling and Redox Conditions Throughout the Rhaetian Stage: Evidence for a Precursor Event to the End-Triassic Mass Extinction” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 638, 112034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112034. (LT and AC share first authorship)

Todaro, S, Rigo, M, Tackett, LS, DiPietro, S (2023) “Evidence of biodiversity crises documented on a carbonate peritidal succession from western Tethys (Sicily): new data on the end-Triassic mass extinction” Italian Journal of Geosciences 142 (1): 122–130. https://doi.org/10.3301/IJG.2023.04

Tackett, LS, Clement*, AC, Ziererº, D (2023) "Actinopterygian and chondrichthyan ichthyoliths reveal enhanced cosmopolitanism in Late Triassic marine ecosystems" Historical Biology. Doi: 10.1080/08912963.2022.2131405.

O’Neil*, G, Tackett, LS, and Meyer, M (2022) ”The role of surficial bioturbation in the latest Ediacaran: A quantitative analysis of trace fossil intensity in the terminal Ediacaran–lower Cambrian of California”. Palaios, 37(12):703-717. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2021.050

Research and professional interests

• Biominerals and Biogenic Sediments

• Marine Predator-Prey Dynamics and Adaptation

• Mesozoic Marine Ecosystems and Climate Change

• Early Animal Ecosystems and Biomineralization