Libby Ellwood

Dr. Ellwood's ecological research occurs at the intersection of climate change, conservation, and citizen science. She works to understand past systems while conducting contemporary research to see how these systems have changed and how they may continue to change in the future. This research depends on historical or ancient information and citizen scientists are playing an increasing role in making such data available. Dr. Ellwood completed a postdoctoral position with iDigBio at Florida State University where she worked to engage the public in digitizing specimens and data contained in natural history collections. In her current position as a Postdoctoral Fellow at La Brea Tar Pits she is part of "A mouse's eye view of Rancho La Brea" project to reconstruct paleo food webs. Specifically, she is developing educational resources to involve students in sorting microfossils that will inform us of the small mammals and plants that comprised ecosystems here 50-30,000 years ago.