Courses Taught |
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ESS 16
ESS 257 |
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Current Research Interest |
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Paleobiology-evolution of primitive Precambrian organisms; organic geochemistry of ancient sediments; evolutionary biology; atmospheric evolution, paleobotany. |
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Paleobiology & Astrobiology: Use of cutting-edge techniques – confocal laser scanning microscopy and two- and three-dimensional Raman spectroscopy – to provide new insight into the cellular anatomy and chemistry of fossil plants, animals and microbes, including Precambrian microscopic fossils among the oldest known, and to demonstrate the usefulness of these new techniques for analyses of taphonomy and for distinguishing biologic remnants from non-fossil “look-alikes” (important, particularly, in studies of life’s earliest history and the search for evidence of past life in Mars rocks). |
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Organic Geochemistry: Raman spectroscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and laboratory heating experiments of ancient rock-embedded kerogens – including those comprising fossil plants, animals, and microbes cellularly preserved in cherts and phosphates – to understand the chemistry of cellular permineralization, to define the kinetics of the geochemical maturation of ancient organic matter, and to develop a low-temperature (pre-metamorphic) “geochemical thermometer” of use both in paleobiology and in petroleum exploration. |
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Education |
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A.B., Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, 1963 (Geology, with High Honors)
A.M., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1965 (Biology)
Ph.D., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1968 (Biology) |
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Honors and Awards |
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UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award; Academic Senate Faculty Research Lecturer; Gold Shield Prize for Academic Excellence |
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Member, National Academy of Sciences; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; American Philosophical Society; American Academy of Achievement |
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Foreign Member, Linnean Society of London; A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry (Russian Academy of Sciences); Curatorium, Geobio- Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München |
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A.T. Waterman Medal (National Science Board); M.C. Thompson Medal (National Academy of Sciences); A.I. Oparin Medal (International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life); Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation Senior Research Award; Guggenheim Fellow (1973-74; 1988-89) |
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Selected Publications |
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In Press (October 2010) |
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Schopf, J.W. In Press. The fossil record of cyanobacteria. In: B.A. Whitton (Editor) Ecology of Cyanobacteria II (Amsterdam: Springer). |
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Schopf, J.W. In Press. The paleobiologic record of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis Research. |
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Schopf, J.W. In Press. Reminiscences of A.I. Oparin's 1976 visit to UCLA. In: V.O. Popov (Editor), The Life and Scientific Contributions of A.I. Oparin, 75th Anniversary Volume of the A.N. Bakh Institute of Biochemistry RAS (Moscow: Russian Academy of Sciences Press) |
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Schopf, J.W. and Kudryavtsev, A.B. In Press. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman (and fluorescence) spectroscopic imagery of permineralized Cambrian and Neoproterozoic fossils. In: M. Laflamme, S. Dornbos and J. Schiffbauer (Editors), Quantifying the Early Evolution of Life: Numerical and Technological Approaches to the Study of Fossils and Ancient Ecosystems (Amsterdam: Springer). |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Tripathi, B., and Czaja, A.D. In Press. Three-dimensional Morphological (CLSM) and Chemical (Raman) Imagery of Cellularly Mineralized Fossils. In: P.A. Allison and D.J. Bottjer (Editors) Taphonomy: Process and Bias through Time (Amsterdam: Springer). |
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Nasdala, L., Beyssac, O., Schopf J.W., and Bleisteiner, B. In Press. Application of Raman-based images in the Earth sciences. In: A. Zoubir (Editor) Raman Imaging (Amsterdam: Springer). |
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2010 |
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Schopf, J. W. and Kudryavtsev, A. B. 2010. A renaissance in studies of ancient life. Geology Today 26: 140-145. |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Sugitani, K., and Walter, M.R. 2010. Precambrian microbe-like pseudofossils: a promising solution to the problem. Precambrian Research 179: 191-205. |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Sergeev, V.N. 2010. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman imagery of the late Neoproterozoic Chichkan microbiota of South Kazakhstan. Journal of Paleontology 84: 402-416. |
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Sergeev, V.N. and Schopf, J.W. 2010. Taxonomy, paleoecology and biostratigraphy of the late NeoProterozoic Chichkan microbiota of South Kazakhstan: the marine biosphere on the eve of metazoan radiation. Journal of Paleontology 84: 363-401. |
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Moczydłowska, M., Schopf, J.W., and Willman, S. 2010. Micro- and nano-scale ultrastructure of cell walls in Cryogenian microfossils: revealing their biological affinity. Lethaia 43: 129-136. |
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Narbonne, G.M., Schopf, J.W., and Walter, M.R. 2010. Hans J. Hofmann (1936-2010). Geolog 39(2): 13-14. |
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Lal, D., Schopf, J.W., Aboott, P.L., Vacher, L., Jull, A.J.T., and McChargue, L. 2010. Nuclear, chemical and biological characterization of formation histories of ironstones from several sites in Southern California: Dominant role of bacterial activitiy. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 296: 227-234. |
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Taylor, P.D., Vinn, O., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Schopf, J.W. 2010. Raman spectroscopic study of the mineral composition of cirratulid tubes (Annelida, Polychaeta). Journal of Structural Biology 171: 402-405. |
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2009 |
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Schopf, J.W. 2009. Emergence of Precambrian paleobiology: a new field of science. In: D. Sepkoski and M. Ruse (Editors), The Paleobiological Revolution, Essays on the Growth of Modern Paleontology (Univ. Chicago Press), pp. 88-110. |
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Schopf, J.W. 2009. Organismal evolution and radiation before the Cambrian. In: M. Ruse, J. Travis, and J. Zinser (Editors), Evolution: The First 4 Billion Years (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA), pp. 775-786. |
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Schopf, J.W. 2009. Paleontology, Microbial. In: J. Lederberg and M. Schaechter (Editors), Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Third Edition (Amsterdam: Elsevier), pp. 390-400. |
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Schopf, J.W. 2009. The Hunt for Precambrian Fossils: An Abbreviated Genealogy of the Science. Precambrian Research 173: 4-9. |
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Schopf, J.W. and Bottjer, D.J. 2009. World Summit on Ancient Microscopic Fossils: Preface. Precambrian Research 173: 1-3. |
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Schopf, J.W. and Kudryavtsev, A.B. 2009. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman imagery of ancient microscopic fossils. Precambrian Research 173: 39-49. |
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Czaja, A.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Cody, G.D., and Schopf, J.W. 2009. Characterization of permineralized kerogen from an Eocene fossil fern. Organic Geochemistry 40: 353-364. |
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2008 |
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Schopf, J.W., Tewari, V.C., and Kudryavtsev, A.B. 2008. Discovery of a new chert-permineralized microbiota in the Proterozoic Buxa Formation of the Ranjit window, Sikkim, India, and its astrobiological implications. Astrobiology 8: 735-746 |
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McKeegan, K.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Schopf, J.W. 2008. Reply: Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from >3830 Ma Akilia supracrustals, West Greenland. Geology 36 (5), online at www.gsajournals.org [REPLY: DOI: 10.1130/G24987Y.1], p. e170. |
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2007 |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Czaja, A.D., and Tripathi, B. 2007. Evidence of Archean life: stromatolites and microfossils. Precambrian Research 158: 141-155. |
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Schopf, J.W., Walter, M.R., and Cao, R-J. 2007. Earliest evidence of of life. Precambrian Research 158: 139-140. |
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Schopf, J.W., Ausich, W.I., Dodd, J.R., Hall, C.A., Parsley, R.L., and Webster, G.D. 2007. Norman Gary Lane: President of the Paleontological Society (1987-1988) and founder of "Friends of the Echinoderms" (1967). Journal of Paleontology 81: 1-6. |
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Chen, J-Y., Schopf, J.W., Bottjer, D.J., Zhang, C-Y., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Wang, X-Q., Yang, Y-H., and Gao, X. 2007. Raman spectra of a Lower Cambrian ctenophore embryo from SW Shaanxi, China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104: 6289-6292. |
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McKeegan, K.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Schopf, J.W. 2007. Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from >3830 Ma Akilia supracrustals, West Greenland. Geology 35: 591-594. |
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Taylor, P.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Schopf, J.W. 2007. Calcite and aragonite distributions in the skeletons of bimineralic bryozoans as revealed by Raman spectroscopy. Invertebrate Biology 127: 87-97. |
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2006 |
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Schopf, J.W. 2006. Fossil evidence of Archaean life. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 361: 869-885. |
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Schopf, J.W. 2006. The first billion years: when did life emerge? Elements 2: 299-233. |
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Schopf, J.W., Tripathi, A., and Kudryavtsev, A. B. 2006. Three-dimensional confocal optical microscopy of Precambrian microscopic organisms. Astrobiology 6: 1-16. |
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Czaja, A.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Schopf, J.W. 2006. New method for the microscopic, non-destructive acquisition of UV resonance Raman spectra from plant cell walls. Applied Spectroscopy 60: 352-355. |
Abstracts |
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2010 |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Foster, I.S., Farmer, J.D., and Butterfield, N.J. 2010 Neoproterozoic Laggerstätten (and the search for life on Mars). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 42: 410 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Farmer, J.D., and Butterfield, N.J. 2010. Molecular chemistry, cellular anatomy, taphonomy and mode of preservation of ancient rock-embedded microscopic fossils. Program and Abstracts, AbSciCon10, Houston TX, p. 77 (abstr.) |
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2009 |
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Schopf, J.W., 2009. The earliest history of life: Solution to Darwin's dilemma. Abstract Book, Evolution: The Experience Conference 2009, Melbourne, Australia, p. 12 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. 2009. The earliest history of life: solution to Darwin's dilemma. 55th Sir Albert Charles Seward Memorial Lecture, Founder's Day Lecture 2009, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J. W. 2009. Fluorescence (CLSM) and molecular-structural (Raman) imagery: New methods to investigate the Precambrian history of life. Conclave on Evolution: Life’s Continuum, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India, pp. 23-25 (abstr.) |
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Cohen, P., Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Macdonald, F.A. 2009. Apatite microfossils from the pre-Sturtian aged Lower Tindir Group, Yukon Territory. North America Paleontological Congress 2009, Cincinnati, OH, p. 430 (abstr.) |
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Cohen, P., Schopf, J.W., Butterfield, N.J., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Macdonald, F.A. 2009. Mineralized scales from eukaryotic microorganisms in the ca. 750 Ma Lower Tindir Group, Yukon Territory, Canda. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 41: 31 (abstr.) |
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2008 |
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Schopf, J.W., 2008. Confocal scanning laser microscopy (CLSM) and Raman imagery: new techniques for the 3D imagine of rock-embedded fossil plants and ancient microbes. Terra Nostra, 2008/2, International Organization of Palaeobotany Conference, Bonn, Germany, (abstr. 618) |
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Schopf, J.W., 2008. The Precambrian record of microbial life. Terra Nostra, 2008/2, International Organization of Palaeobotany Conference, Bonn, Germany (abstr. 619). |
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Schopf, J.W. and Kudryavtsev, A.B. 2008. New Techniques for the Detection of Evidence of Past Life in Mars Rocks Raman. Abstracts from AbSciCon 2008, Santa Clara, CA, Astrobiology 18: 414 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. 2008. The earliest history of life: solution to Darwin's dilemma. Abstracts with Program, Annual Meeting, Geological Society of America, Houston, TX, p. 223 (abstr.) |
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Czaja, A.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Cody, G.D., and Schopf, J.W. 2008. Geochemical characterization of permineralized kerogen. Abstracts from AbSciCon 2008, Santa Clara, CA, Astrobiology 18: 405 (abstr.) |
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2007 |
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Schopf, J.W. 2007. How old is life on Earth? New answers to an age-old question. Abstracts, International Conference on Precambrian Sedimentation and Tectonics and 2nd GPSS Meeting, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India, pp.1-2 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. 2007. 3-D optical and chemical imagery of rock-embedded fossils: new techniques for the detection of past life on Mars. Abstracts, Bioastronomy 2007, Astrobiology 7: 494 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. 2007. The oldest records of life. Program and abstracts, Annual Meeting of the Botanical Society of America, Chico, CA, Plant Biology and Botany, p. 212 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. 2007. Earliest records of life. Abstracts with Programs, 2007 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, p. 448 (abstr.) |
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Czaja, A.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Cody, G.D., and Schopf, J.W. 2007. Fine-scale analysis of permineralized fossil kerogen. Abstracts, Bioastronomy 2007, Astrobiology 7: 535-536 (abstr.) |
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Czaja, A.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Cody, G.D., and Schopf, J.W. 2007. Comparison of fossil fern kerogen from two Eocene cherts. Abstracts with Programs, 2007 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, p. 505 (abstr.) |
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2006 |
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Schopf, J.W. 2006. Archean microscopic fossils. Ancient Life and Modern Approaches, Abstracts of the Second International Paleontological Congress, Beijing China p. 267-268 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. 2006. Three-dimensional morphological and chemical imagery of permineralized plants and Precambrian Microorganisms. Silver Jubilee Celebration, Birbal Sahani Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow India (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W. and Kudryavtsev, A.B. 2006. Raman imagery for life detection on early Earth and Mars. Abstracts from AbSciCon 2006, Washington, D.C., Astrobiology 6: 115-116 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Czaja, A.D. and Tripathi, A.B. 2006. Raman imagery of cells in ~3,500-Ma-old microscopic fossils. Abstracts from AbSciCon 2006, Washington, D.C., Astrobiology 6: 225 (abstr.) |
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Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Czaja, A.D., and Tripathi, B. 2006. Three-dimensional Morphological (CLSM) and Chemical (Raman) Imagery of Permineralized Plants and Organic-Walled Microorganisms. Annual Meeting, Botanical Society of America, Chico, CA, p. 171 (abstr.) |
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Tripathi, A.B., Schopf, J.W., and Kudryavtsev, A.B. 2006. Three dimensional imaging of Precambrian microfossils using the confocal laser scanning microscope. Abstracts from AbSciCon 2006, Washington, D.C., Astrobiology 6: 230 (abstr.) |
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Taylor, P.D., Kudryavtsev, A.B., and Schopf, J.W. 2006. Calcite and aragonite distributions in the skeletons of bimineralic bryozoans as revealed by Raman spectroscopy. Program, VII Larwood Meeting, Naples, Italy, p. 12 (abstr.) |
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Caro, G., Papanastassiou, D.A., Wasserburg, G.J., and Schopf, J.W. 2006. The 40K-40Ca isotopic systematics of marine carbonates: a record of continental crust evolution since 3.5 Ga. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 87 (52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V22C-03, pp. F2234-2235 (abstr.) |
