Nadia Belinda Fröbisch (née Stöcker) is a German vertebrate paleontologist and developmental biologist who specializes in the evolution and development of amphibians. She is currently a professor at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in the Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity.

Academic and professional background

Fröbisch obtained her vordiplom (B.Sc. equivalent) at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

in Germany (1996-1999), after which she spent a year as a visiting student at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

and volunteered at the Royal Tyrell Museum. Following that, she pursued her diploma (M.Sc. equivalent) at the University of Bonn (2000-2003) under the supervision of Martin Sander, where she studied

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...

ichthyosaur Ichthyosauria is an order of large extinct marine reptiles sometimes referred to as "ichthyosaurs", although the term is also used for wider clades in which the order resides. Ichthyosaurians thrived during much of the Mesozoic era; based on fo ...

s. Fröbisch then went on to pursue her doctoral studies at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(2003-2008) under the supervision of Robert Carroll and Hans Larsson, where she studied the extinct

dissorophoid Dissorophoidea is a clade of medium-sized, temnospondyl amphibians that appeared during the Moscovian in Euramerica, and continued through to the Late Permian and the Early Triassic of Gondwana. They are distinguished by various details of the ...

temnospondyls Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished wo ...

, a close relative of modern amphibians. She went on to hold postdoctoral positions at the University of Toronto Mississauga (supervised by

Robert Reisz Robert Rafael Reisz is a Canadian paleontologist and specialist in the study of early amniote and tetrapod evolution. Research career Reisz received his B.Sc. (1969), M.Sc. (1971) and Ph.D. (1975) from McGill University as Robert L. Carroll's ...

) and the University of Chicago (supervised by Neil Shubin). She is currently a professor at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and is technically affiliated with

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

. She won the Canadian Paleontology Conference's Bolton Award in 2006, given to the best student presentation, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's Romer Prize in 2006, a prestigious award given for the best student talk based on doctoral research. She appeared in an episode of National Geographic's TV series " Naked Science" and was a Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Distinguished Lecturer from 2018 to 2020; this program was originally an initiative of the

Paleontological Society The Paleontological Society, formerly the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was incorporated in April 1968 in ...

to make accomplished scientists available for public lectures.

Academic contributions

Fröbisch's research focuses primarily on the evolution and development of extinct and extant amphibians through the combined use of paleontological and modern developmental approaches. In particular, she is well known for her work examining patterns of limb development and regeneration. Although her work primarily utilizes amphibian models, with a secondary eye towards lungfish, she has also published on ichthyosaurs, pterosaurs, and chondrichthyans. Her research has been published in leading academic journals, including

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

, JAMA Oncology,

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scie ...

, and

Biological Reviews The Cambridge Philosophical Society (CPS) is a scientific society at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1819. The name derives from the medieval use of the word philosophy to denote any research undertaken outside the fields of law ...

. She also serves on the editorial board of several paleontological journals, including PalZ, the Journal of Paleontology, and Paleobiology. Fröbisch has contributed to naming several new species of extinct tetrapods, outlined below:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frobisch, Nadia Living people German paleontologists University of Bonn alumni McGill University alumni Scientists active at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin 21st-century German women scientists Year of birth missing (living people)