Elizabeth M. Harper (Liz) is an evolutionary biologist known for her work on molluscs. She is an honorary fellow of the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

and was accorded the title of Honorary Professor by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 2019.

Education and career

Harper was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, Suffolk. She has a B.A. (and M.A Cantab) from the University of Cambridge and earned her doctorate from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

. As of 2021, Harper is a professor at the

, and a fellow of

Gonville and Caius college Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

. Harper has used the collections at the

Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, is the geology museum of the University of Cambridge. It is part of the Department of Earth Sciences and is located on the university's Downing Site in Downing Street, central Cambridge, England. The Sedg ...

for her research, and she was made an honorary curator of the invertebrate paleontology in 2004, and has twice served as acting director of the museum. In 2019, the University of Cambridge bestowed the title of Honorary Professor of Evolutionary Malacology on Harper. As of June 2023, Harper is the Director of Studies in Earth Sciences, as well as a College Lecturer, at Gonville and Caius college.

Research

Harper's research focuses on molluscan biology and

biomineralization Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, often resulting in hardened or stiffened '' mineralized tissues''. It is an extremely widespread phenomenon: all six taxonomic kingd ...

. Her early research used genome size in living organisms to infer genome size in fossils. She has subsequently examined the process of biomineralization, or how bivalves make cement, how

pteropods Pteropoda (common name pteropods, from the Greek meaning "wing-foot") are specialized free-swimming pelagic sea snails and sea slugs, marine opisthobranch gastropods. Most live in the top 10 m of the ocean and are less than 1 cm long. ...

repair their shells, and the factors controlling the shape of shells in blue mussels and oysters. She has defined the factors controlling feeding on molluscs by examining drilling into shells, and worked on a collaborative project that considered multiple areas of research to define the origins of bivalves. Harper's research includes investigations into how different species of molluscs may respond to future changes in water chemistry, most recently revealing how brachiopods are able to alter the thickness of their shell under conditions that would lead to increased dissolution of their shells.

Selected publications

* * * *

Awards and honors

In 1990, Harper received the President's Award from the

Palaeontological Association The Palaeontological Association (PalAss for short) is a charitable organisation based in the UK founded in 1957 for the promotion of the study of palaeontology and its allied sciences. Publications The Association publishes two main journals ...

. As of 2021, Harper is named an honorary fellow of the British Antarctic Survey.

References

External links

*, 10 June 2021 lecture by Harper {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Elizabeth Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British evolutionary biologists Women evolutionary biologists Women zoologists British women biologists 21st-century British zoologists 20th-century British zoologists Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of the Open University Alumni of the University of Cambridge British malacologists Scientists from Ipswich