Author Archives: Robert Gastaldo

About Robert Gastaldo

Professor Gastaldo is Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology and served as Department Chair from 1999/2000 academic year, upon his initial appointment, until 30 June 2012. He was awarded a Forschungspreis (Research Prize) from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Bonn, in 1991, and returned to Germany as a short-term visiting scientist in 2012. He has been awarded two Fulbright Fellowships. The first appointment was at the Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht, The Netherlands; the second is at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Paleontological Society, served as co-Editor of SEPM's journal PALAIOS and on the society's Executive Council, and continues as a reviewer and funding-panel member for various U.S. and international grant agencies. Professor Gastaldo's research focus is in the plant-fossil record and the response(s) of terrestrial ecosystems to perturbation, and engages undergraduate students early in their careers in original research endeavors. His wife, Elvira, is one of the Colby Quilt Club advisers, and she assists departments across campus with temporary, short-term assignments. Together, they have 3 grown sons who have pursued their own career paths outside of academia.