Dr Paul Kenrick

Dr Paul Kenrick

Principal Researcher

ORCID: 0000-0002-3626-5460
Department: Earth Sciences
Division: ES Invertebrates and Plants Palaeobiology
Specialisms: Fossil Plants, Palaeobotany, Plant Evolution
    Phones:
  • work: 0207 942 5586 null

Summary

I am a palaeobotanist whose scientific research focuses on the early evolution of life on land and its broader impact on key Earth Systems (e.g., Carbon Cycle). Current interests include the development of soil ecosystems, the origin and evolution of plant organs and tissues, and the co-evolution of plants and fungi.

I am lead scientists on the Evolution Garden at the Natural History Museum, which opened in July 2024.

Qualifications

Degrees

  • PhD, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
  • BSc, Department of Plant Science, Cardiff University, United Kingdom

Postgraduate training

  • Research Associate, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, United States, 1989 - 1991
  • Royal Society Research Fellow, University of Liège, Belgium, 1988 - 1989

Academic

  • Head of Invertebrates and Plants Division, Natural History Museum, Earth Sciences, United Kingdom, 2012 - 2015
  • Acting Keeper, Natural History Museum, Palaeontology, United Kingdom, 2011 - 2011
  • Head of Research, Natural History Museum, Palaeontology, United Kingdom, 2009 - 2012
  • Visiting Professor, Oxford University, Plant Sciences, United Kingdom, 2008 - 2011
  • Head of Invertebrates and Plants Division, Natural History Museum, Palaeontology, United Kingdom, 2003 - 2006
  • Research Scientist, The Natural History Museum, Earth Sciences, London, 1998 - ongoing
  • Curator, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Palaeobotany, Sweden, 1993 - 1998
  • Assistant Curator, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Palaeobotany, Sweden, 1991 - 1993

Highlighted publications

  • Mitchell RL, Kenrick P, Pressel S, Duckett J, Strullu‐Derrien C, Davies N, McMahon WJ, Summerfield R (2023) Terrestrial surface stabilisation by modern analogues of the earliest land plants: A multi‐dimensional imaging study. Geobiology 21, 454 - 473. doi: 10.1111/gbi.12546
  • Edwards D, Morris JL, Axe L, Duckett JG, Pressel S, Kenrick P (2022) Piecing together the eophytes – a new group of ancient plants containing cryptospores. New Phytologist 233, 1440 - 1455. doi: 10.1111/nph.17703
  • Mitchell RL, Strullu‐Derrien C, Sykes D, Pressel S, Duckett JG, Kenrick P (2021) Cryptogamic ground covers as analogues for early terrestrial biospheres: Initiation and evolution of biologically mediated proto‐soils. Geobiology 19, 292 - 306. doi: 10.1111/gbi.12431
  • Berbee ML, Strullu-Derrien C, Delaux P-M, Strother PK, Kenrick P, Selosse M-A, Taylor JW (2020) Genomic and fossil windows into the secret lives of the most ancient fungi. Nature Reviews Microbiology 18, 717 - 730. doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-0426-8
  • Kenrick P (2020) A History of Plants in 50 Fossils. null - null.
  • Edwards D, Kenrick P, Dolan L (2018) History and contemporary significance of the Rhynie cherts—our earliest preserved terrestrial ecosystem. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 373, 20160489 - 20160489. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0489
  • Morris JL, Puttick MN, Clark JW, Edwards D, Kenrick P, Pressel S, Wellman CH, Yang Z, Schneider H, Donoghue PCJ (2018) The timescale of early land plant evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1719588115
  • Puttick MN, Morris JL, Williams TA, Cox CJ, Edwards D, Kenrick P, Pressel S, Wellman CH, Schneider H, Pisani D, Donoghue PCJ (2018) The Interrelationships of Land Plants and the Nature of the Ancestral Embryophyte. Current Biology 28, 733 - 745.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.063
  • Strullu‐Derrien C, Selosse M, Kenrick P, Martin FM (2018) The origin and evolution of mycorrhizal symbioses: from palaeomycology to phylogenomics. New Phytologist 220, 1012 - 1030. doi: 10.1111/nph.15076
  • Kenrick P, Wellman CH, Schneider H, Edgecombe GD (2012) A timeline for terrestrialization: consequences for the carbon cycle in the Palaeozoic. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 367, 519 - 536. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0271
  • Kenrick P, Crane PR (1997) The origin and early evolution of plants on land. Nature 389, 33 - 39. doi: 10.1038/37918
  • Kenrick P, Crane PR (1997) The origin and early diversification of land plants: a cladistic study. Smithsonian Institution Press : Washington. null - null.
  • Clark JW, Hetherington AJ, Morris JL, Pressel S, Duckett JG, Puttick MN, Schneider H, Kenrick P, Wellman CH, Donoghue PCJ Evolution of phenotypic disparity in the plant kingdom. Nature Plants 9, 1618 - 1626. doi: 10.1038/s41477-023-01513-x
  • Mitchell RL, Davies P, Kenrick P, Volkenandt T, Pleydell-Pearce C, Johnston R Correlative Microscopy: a tool for understanding soil weathering in modern analogues of early terrestrial biospheres. Scientific Reports 11, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-92184-1
  • Strullu-Derrien C, Goral T, Spencer ART, Kenrick P, Catherine Aime M, Gaya E, Hawksworth DL A fungal plant pathogen discovered in the Devonian Rhynie Chert. Nature Communications 14, doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43276-1

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