Congratulations to Elizabeth Pellegrini on her successful Senior Thesis Defense and Graduation!

Elizabeth Pellegrini joined the PaleoFISHES Lab in summer 2024 as a summer intern between her sophomore and junior years of college at Eckerd College. During the summer, she learned the basics of ichthyolith micropaleontology and started a project looking at shark communities during the Early Eocene Climate Optimum. She was bit by the Denticle-bug and continued to work on this project for the next 2 years, expanding it to a second site, and eventually developing an incredible senior thesis, entitled “Sharks in hot water: Reconstructing an open ocean shark assemblage response to the Early Eocene Climate Optimum using microfossil dermal denticles”, which she successfully defended with a fantastic presentation in late April of 2026. Elizabeth also received the Eckerd Marine Science Academic Excellence Award, given to a graduating senior in recognition of their achievements in marine sciences at the institution.

In addition to being an incredible scientist, Elizabeth P is also responsible for our amazing lab logo. We’re so proud to have been a part of her journey so far, and can’t wait to see what she does in the future.

Congratulations, Elizabeth!