Current position
2023-present Postdoctoral researcher with a ‘Beatriu de Pinós’ contract (funded by Generalitat de Catalunya) at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Barcelona, Spain. Brain evolution in gliding mammals. Principal investigator. Sponsored by Isaac Casanovas-Vilar.
2024-present Research Associate at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Section of Mammals, Pittsburgh, USA.
2023-present Lecturer – Master level: Mammal origin and diversification. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
2021-present Associate Editor at Journal of Mammalian Evolution.
Former positions
2020-2022 Postdoctoral Research Associate in Mammal Palaeontology – University of Edinburgh, UK funded through an ERC grant: “The Rise of Placental Mammals: Dissecting an Evolutionary Radiation”.
2018-2020 Postdoctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow – University of Edinburgh, UK. Brain evolution and the rise of mammals after the dinosaur extinction.
2017-2018 Postdoctoral researcher and lab manager – University of Toronto, Scarborough, Canada. Endocranial shape variation among squirrels and fossil Ischyromyidae.
Other experiences in Research
2010-2012 Predoctoral researcher – Division of Paleontology, Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York, NY, USA. Two new rodents (Rodentia: Caviomorpha) from the early Oligocene of the Tinguiririca River Valley (Chile): taxonomic description, systematics, initial radiation and diversification of Caviomorpha (Rodentia: Hystricognathi) from South America.
2008-2009 Research Masters project (2nd year) – Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISE-M; UMR 5554), France. Phylogeny and biogeographical history of the first African and Asian Hystricognathi during the Paleogene (Mammalia: Rodentia).
2007-2008 Research Maters project (1st year) – Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISE-M; UMR 5554), France. Study of the appendicular skeleton and initial radiation of Hyracoidea (Mammalia: Afrotheria).
2007 Research Undergraduate project (3rd year) – Unité Origine, Structure et Evolution de la Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (UMR 5202), Paris, France. FLAT Base: Taxonomic database of Aradidea (Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha).
Education
2012-2016 University of Toronto, Scarborough, Canada – PhD in Paleobiology and Macroevolution. Thesis: Virtual Endocasts for Ischyromyidae and Sciuridae: Brain Evolution in Rodentia and a Deeper Understanding of the Ancestral Condition for the Brain of Euarchontoglires. Thesis advisor: Mary T. Silcox.
2010-2011 English course at American-Spanish Institute, New York, NY, USA
2010 Workshop on phylogenetic methods at Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
2007-2009 Master BGAE (Biology – Geosciences – Agroresources – Environment) at Université des Sciences Montpellier II, France; Speciality: Paleontology, Phylogeny, Paleobiology
2004-2007 Bachelor of Sciences at Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France (Biology of organisms and ecosystems)
Ornella C. Bertrand, Ph.D. 