I am a long-serving member of BAS where I have spent nearly all my career as a research palaeontologist. From 2000-2009 I served as Head of Geological Sciences Division and Member of the BAS Board, and from 2009 – 2015 as a Science Leader and Member of the BAS Science Board/Science Strategy Team. Since 2012 I have been Head of the BAS Research Studentship Programme and I now continue in this role and as a Research Palaeontologist within the Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptations Team. I am still a full Member of the BAS Science Strategy Team.

I am a member of the Management Board of the GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), NERC’s largest DTP, and have been an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biogeography for more than ten years. I am a regular reviewer for a variety of biological and palaeobiological journals, and various research councils

Research interests

I am a palaeontologist with a wide-ranging interest in the evolutionary history of the polar regions. Most of my practical experience has been in the marine realm where I have looked at both modern faunas and fossil ones spanning the last 150 million years in particular. A keen interest of mine has been the origin and maintenance of taxonomic diversity gradients in the marine realm, and the latitudinal contrast between the tropics and the poles. Jim Brown (2014, J. Biogeog. 41, p. 18) recently said that “accounting for this phenomenon remains one of the greatest challenges for Western science”. Much of my taxonomic expertise has been with bivalve and gastropod molluscs, but I am interested in all marine and terrestrial groups that show pronounced latitudinal diversity gradients.

Within the Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptations team we are looking at macroecological patterns from a polar perspective: what are the relative roles of abiotic factors such as temperature and productivity in the production of ecological patterns on a global scale, and how has this varied over time? We are using a combination of data from palaeobiological and phylogenetic sources to assess the nature and timing of the formation of latitudinal gradients throughout the Cenozoic era.

I am PI on the NERC-funded project “Impact of global disturbances on the evolution of life in the polar regions during the Early Cenozoic (PALEOPOLAR)”: NE/I005803/1 (£856k), and also PI on the NERC Advanced Training Short Course, “A skills framework for delivering safe and effective fieldwork in the polar regions” : NE/N000749/1 (£57k). I am a CoI on “Jurassic Fossilblitz”, a NERC award made as part of their 50th Birthday celebrations (£7.5k).

Collaborations

Our PALEOPOLAR grant centred on a field season on Seymour Island and subsequent laboratory analyses in various places. We are working with Jon Ineson (GEUS) on all aspects of the stratigraphy and sedimentology of Seymour Island, and work in the Eocene La Meseta Formation has been greatly facilitated by collaboration with Sergio Marenssi (University of Buenos Aires). Sedimentary geochemistry links are with Stuart Robinson and Charlotte O’Brien, University of Oxford, where various palaeotemperature proxies are under investigation. We are also running a small pilot study with David Hodell and Liz Harper (Cambridge Earth Sciences) on clumped isotopes in K – Pg boundary bivalves.

Palaeontological collaborators include Alan Beu and James Crampton (GNS Science), Liz Harper (Cambridge), John Taylor (NHM), Cris Little and James Witts (Leeds), and various members of the Jurassic Fossilblitz team. Some of our vertebrate material is currently under investigation by Jurgen Kriwet (Vienna), Carolina Hospitaleche (La Plata) and Julia Clarke (Texas).

List available on application

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

• Crame, A. (2025). Inventory of tropical, shallow marine molluscs from twelve regional localities (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/482dc331-81c0-4dd1-9d0e-aeeec5442132

• Crame, J., & McGowan, A. (2022). List of Early Cenozoic fossil taxa from Antarctica, Western Europe and US Gulf Coast (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/2cfa78b1-b7a1-411d-89e5-90490482be79

• Crame, A. (2018). Neogastropod species lists from the Early Cenozoic of Seymour Island Antarctica, US Gulf Coast and Paris Basin (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK. https://doi.org/10.5285/e3a0d52f-b974-414b-9e13-41b171ed659c

• Pirrie, D., McArthur, J., Crame, A., Kennedy, W., & Thirlwall, M. (2009). Rock and fossil samples collected from James Ross Island, Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/00418

• McArthur, J., Crame, A., Thirlwall, M., Kennedy, W., & Pirrie, D. (2009). Analysis of rock and fossil samples collected from James Ross Island, Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/00432

1. Impact of global disturbances on evolution of polar life

   Why does global biodiversity show such a steep increase just as climates were deteriorating?

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1. Marine life recovery following the dinosaurs’ extinction

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2. Antarctic fossils show creatures wiped out by asteroid

   A study of more than 6,000 marine fossils from the Antarctic shows that the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs was sudden and just as deadly to life in the polar regions.

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3. On the ice opportunity for PhD students and Early Career Researchers

   16 PhD students and Early Career Researchers have a unique opportunity to gain practical skills for working safely and effectively in the polar regions.

   Read more of: On the ice opportunity for PhD students and Early Career Researchers