Phoebe A. Cohen

Education and Outreach Lead

Postdoctoral Associate

MIT NASA Astrobiology Team

E25-631

** ************* ***

Cambridge MA 02139

abql01@r.postjobfree.com

Education:

B.A. with distinction (2002) Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences

Major: Science of Earth Systems

Ph.D. (2010) Harvard University. Earth and Planetary Sciences

Dissertation: Investigations of Enigmatic Neoproterozoic Eukaryotes

Advisor: Andrew H. Knoll

My thesis work focused on discovering, describing, and analyzing enigmatic eukaryotic fossils from

the Neoproterozoic (1000-543 Ma). The goal of this work is:

To obtain a clearer picture of what life in the world s oceans was like in the time period leading

up to the Cambrian radiation

To examine how early organisms evolved and responded to changing environmental

conditions, and

To advance our understanding of early eukaryotic and animal life

Postdoctoral Associate (2010 - ) Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In my postdoctoral work, I am continuing my work on the

Precambrian eukaryotic fossil record and am utilizing organic geochemical techniques to further

elucidate evolutionary and environmental events during this critical time period in Earth history.

Work and Professional Experience:

Education and Outreach Lead, MIT NASA Astrobiology Team. May 2010 - present. I act as a liaison

between researchers and educators, produce original web-based educational content based on team

research, run outreach workshops in the community, and help to develop and implement educational

and outreach activities.

Assistant to the Director, Paleontological Research Institute (PRI) & The Museum of the Earth,

2002-2004. I played an integral role at PRI during a dynamic period of transition for the institution. My

responsibilities were wide-ranging and included research, fundraising, oversight and organization of a

professional publication, and public outreach. I worked closely staff at all levels as well as with

museum volunteers, donors, researchers, and visitors.

Awards:

Derek Bok Excellence in Teaching Award, Harvard University, 2009

Paleontological Society Gould Student Research Award, 2008

Cushman Foundation Loeblich and Tappan Student Research Award, 2008

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 2005-2008

1

Phoebe A. Cohen

Harvard University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Student Field Work grant,

2007

Alfred W. Stickney Fellowship, Harvard University, 2005

Professional Publications:

Cohen, Phoebe A., J. William Schopf, Nicholas J. Butter eld, Anatoliy Kudryavtsev, & Francis

Macdonald (in press at Geology). Phosphate biomineralization in mid-Neoproterozoic protists

Macdonald, F.A., Schmitz, M.D., Crowley, J.L., Roots, C.F., Jones, D.S., Maloof, A.C., Strauss, J.V.,

Cohen, P.A., Johnston, D.T., and Schrag, D.P., 2010, Calibrating the Cryogenian: Science, v. 327, no.

5970, p. 1241-1243.

Macdonald, F.A., Cohen, P.A., Dudas, F.O., and Schrag, D.P., 2010, Early Neoproterozoic scale

microfossils in the lower Tindir Group of Alaska and the Yukon Territory: Geology (Boulder), v. 38, no.

2, p. 143-146.

Macdonald, F.A., and P. Cohen. (in press) The upper Tindir, east-central Alaska. In: Arnaud, E.,

Halverson, G., and Shields, G. Eds., The Geological Record of Neoproterozoic Glaciations,

Geological Society of London Memoir, London.

Cohen, Phoebe A., A.H. Knoll and R.B. Kodner. (2009) Large spinose microfossils in Ediacaran rocks

as resting stages of early animals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106: 6519

6524

Cohen, Phoebe A. et al. (2009) Tubular Macrofossils from the Ediacaran Nama Group,

Namibia. Journal of Paleontology 83: 110-122.

Allmon, W.D. and P. Cohen (2008). Palaeoecological signi cance of turritelline gastropod-dominated

assemblages from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) of Texas and Oklahoma, USA.

Cretaceous Research 29: 65-77

Knoll, A.H., Javaux, E.J., Hewitt, D., & Cohen, P. (2006). Eukaryotic organisms in Proterozoic oceans.

Philosophical Transactions - Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences, 361(1470), 1023-1038.

General Audience Publications:

Cohen, Phoebe A. (2006). A Long Fuse: Evolution in the Precambrian. American Paleontologist

Magazine, 14(2), 21-23.

Short Courses Attended:

Agouron Institute, Advanced Geobiology Field course (Namibia), June 2006.

USC Wrigley / Agouron Institute International Geobiology course, June-July 2005.

Field Work:

Neoproterozoic Tindir Group, Alaska and The Yukon Territory, June 2007.

Ediacaran Nama Group, Namibia, June 2006.

Ordovician Beaverfoot Formation, Canadian Rockies, September 2005.

2

Phoebe A. Cohen

Teaching Experience:

Teaching is an integral and ful lling part of my work as a scientist. My goal as a teacher is to

challenge and inspire students, to promote critical thinking and analysis, and to foster a sense of

con dence in students ability to interpret the fascinating and complex world around them.

Head Teaching Fellow, Paleobiological Perspectives on Ecology and Evolution, Harvard

University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Spring 2009.

Teaching Fellow, Dinosaurs and Their Relatives, Harvard University Core Program, Spring

2008.

Teaching Fellow, History of the Earth, Harvard University Department of Earth and Planetary

Sciences, Spring 2006.

Teaching Fellow, Environmental Risks & Disasters, Harvard University Core Program, Fall

2006.

Teaching Assistant, Paleobiology, Cornell University Department of Earth and Atmospheric

Sciences, Fall 2003.

Teaching Assistant, Hawaii Earth Science Field Course, Cornell University Department of

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, January 2002.

Education and Outreach:

Science does not exist in a vacuum - I see it as my responsibility to educate beyond the con nes of

the University classroom, sharing my love of the Earth sciences with the public.

Organizer and Facilitator, Telling Your Story scientist-teacher partnership workshops, 2011

Presenter, Harvard Museum of Natural History public education and professional development

programs, 2010-2011.

Co-organizer, sideWalk Through Time collaborative art and science education program at the

Harvard Museum of Natural History, September 2009.

Instructor, Harvard Museum of Natural History adult education course, From Bacteria to

Bones: Exploring the Rise of Complex Life on Earth, March, 2008.

Presentations on research and paleontology to elementary and middle school students across

Massachusetts

Instructor, Science Club For Girls, Spring 2005, Cambridge Middle Schools.

Organizational and Community Activities:

Paleontological Society Education and Outreach committee member, 2010 -

Earth and Planetary Sciences Graduate Student Board Member, Harvard Graduate Women in

Science and Engineering, 2007-2009

Student Representative, The Paleontological Society, 2006-2008

Seminar Co-organizer, Earth History and Paleobiology Seminar Series, Harvard University,

2006-2008

Earth and Planetary Sciences Graduate Student Representative, Harvard University Graduate

Student Council, 2007-2008

Graduate Student Representative, Harvard University Earth and Planetary Sciences Green

Team, 2005-2007.

Symposium Co-organizer, Geobiology of the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian II, Harvard University,

April 25th 2008

Accomplished lm and digital photographer

3

Contact this candidate