University of New South Wales - BEES Home

Supervisor: PROFESSOR MICHAEL ARCHER
Co-supervisors: Dr Sue Hand (UNSW) and Dr Lyndall Dawson

EDUCATION

1996-2000: Master in Science (M.Sci.; combined bachelors and masters degree) in Geology (Hons) from University College London, UK
Thesis: Use of the femur in species recognition in the hominin fossil record

2002-2005, 2007-Current: Ph.D., UNSW, Australia
Thesis: Oligo-Miocene wombats from the Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site in northwest Queensland

AWARDS

Palaeontological Association Prize (jointly awarded by the Palaeontological Association and University College London): 1998
Morris Prize (awarded by University College London): 1999
Northcote Scholarship (awarded by Menzies Centre for Australian Studies): 2002-2005

TEACHING

Palaeontology demonstrator at University College London (London, UK): 2000
Geology/palaeontology talks at St Paul's Church of England Primary School (Brighton, UK): 2005 & 2006
Human anatomy demonstrator at University College London (London, UK): 2007

FIELD EXPERIENCE

Europe (U.K., Spain and Cyprus): 1994-2000
Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site, Australia: 2001 & 2002
Lightning Ridge, Australia: 2002 & 2004
Cuddie Springs, Australia: 2002
Inverloch, Australia: 2003 & 2004
Murgon, Australia: 2004

CURATION EXPERIENCE

Bolton Museum (Bolton, UK): 1995
Booth Museum of Natural History (Brighton, UK): 1996
Grant Museum of Zoology (London,UK): 1998
Natural History Museum (London, UK): 1997-1999, 2007
University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia): 2002-2005

RESEARCH

I'm interested in most aspects of vertebrate palaeontology, particularly the use of many different types of evidence to gain a fuller understanding of extinct taxa.

My thesis is focussed on fossil wombats from Riversleigh. Prior to the discovery of the Riversleigh wombats, fossil specimens of early (pre-Pliocene) wombats were largely restricted to an isolated tooth from South Australia. Four genera of wombats from this 'dark age' are represented at Riversleigh and so provide an almost exclusive view of this time in their evolutionary history. My thesis includes taxonomic descriptions, phylogenetics, functional morphology and enamel microstructure.

PUBLICATIONS

Brewer, P., 2003. Fossil wombats. Riversleigh Notes 56: 9-11.

Archer, M., Arena, D. A., Bassarova, M., Beck, R., Black, K., Boles, W.E., Brewer, P., Cooke, B.N., Crosby, K., Gillespie, A., Godthelp, H., Hand, S.J., Kear, B., Louys, J, Morrell, A., Muirhead, J., Roberts, K. K., Scanlon, J. D., Travouillon, K.T, and Wroe, S., 2006. Current status of species-level representation in faunas from selected fossil localities in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Alcheringa Special Issue 1, 1-17.

Brewer, P., 2007. New record of Warendja wakefieldi (Vombatidae; Marsupialia) from Wombeyan Caves, New South Wales. Alcheringa 31: 153-171.

Brewer, P., Archer, M., Hand, S. & Godthelp, H., 2007. A new species of Warendja (Vombatidae, Marsupialia) from late Miocene deposits at Riversleigh, north-west Queensland, Australia. Palaeontology 50: 811-828.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Brewer, P. 2003. Oligo-Miocene wombats from the Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site in northwestern Queensland. Oral paper presented at the Conference for Australasian Vertebrate Evolution and Palaeontology in Brisbane 2003.

Brewer, P., Archer, M., Hand, S. & Godthelp, H. 2005. A new genus and species of primitive wombat from the Riversleigh World Heritage Property in northwestern Queensland, Australia. Oral paper presented at the 53rd Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy 2005.

Brewer, P. 2007. Additional specimens of Rhizophascolonus crowcrofti (Vombatidae; Marsupialia) from the Wipajiri Formation, South Australia. Oral paper presented at the LERN (London Evolutionary Research Network) Annual Conference 2007.

CONTACT DETAILS:

E-mail: pipb666@hotmail.com