Dr Martha Richter

Dr Martha Richter

Principal Curator, Vertebrates

Department: Earth Sciences
Division: ES Vertebrates and Anthropology Palaeobiology
Specialisms: Coaching (Leadership), Collections Management, Vertebrate Palaeontology (scientific research)

Summary

I retired in June 2022 and became a Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum. My professional career at the Museum had two main components, collections management and scientific research. I started as a Curator of Fossil Fishes in March 2004. Since 2006, I managed the Fossil Vertebrates , Anthropology and Micropalaeontology collections. I also line-managed their curators, whose work is essential to guarantee the long-term care, accessibility, documentation and development of these collections. I became the Principal Curator of Fossil Vertebrates and Anthropology in 2017.

My research focuses on fossil fishes and other vertebrates, especially those from the Palaeozoic of Gondwana, but I also worked on fish fossils from Antarctica and other continents as well as reptiles and mammals. I study their anatomy and histology, phylogenetic interrelationships and the geological context of the places where the fossils are found. Through extensive, internationally collaborative fieldwork in the Paraná and the Parnaíba sedimentary basins in Brazil we have discovered a wealth of new aquatic faunas, both marine and non-marine. The Permian and Triassic periods are of my special interest, because rocks of these age have been yielding important fossils that are filling our knowledge gap about how vertebrate faunas on that old continent lived and thrived, survived or perished during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event.

Qualifications

Degrees

  • PhD, Kings College London (KCL), United Kingdom, 1987 - 1991
  • Master of Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, 1978 - 1981
  • Biology Full Licentiate degree (undergradute), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 1974 - 1977

Certifications

  • PRINCE2 Practitioner, Maven, London

Postgraduate training

  • Post-doctorate, Eberhard-Karl Universität Tübingen, Germany, 1998 - 1999

Academic

  • Visiting Researcher CNPq 1F, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Geology, Brazil, 2001 - 2004
  • Associate Lecturer and Post-Graduate Supervisor, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, Brazil, 2001 - 2004
  • Associate Professor, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Zoology, Brazil, 1991 - 1993
  • Assistent Professor, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Zoology, Brazil, 1991 - 1993
  • Assistent Reader, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Zoology, Brazil, 1986 - 1986
  • Visiting Professor, Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Geology, Brazil, 1982 - 1982
  • Visiting Professor, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Geology, Brazil, 1978 - 1978

Non-academic

  • Collections Manager (Vertebrates, Anthropology, Micropalaeontology), Natural History Museum, Earth Sciences, United Kingdom, 2006 - 2022
  • Head of the Laboratory of Paleontology, Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Museum of Sciences and Technology, 1985 - 2000
  • Curator of Fossil Fishes, Natural History Museum, Palaeontology, 2004 - 2006

Highlighted publications

  • RICHTER M, BOSETTI EP, HORODYSKI RS (2017) Early Devonian (Late Emsian) shark fin remains (Chondrichthyes) from the Paraná Basin, southern Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 89, 103 - 118. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765201720160458

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