Researcher Reads Fossils on Ice

Molly Miller in Antarctica

11/24/2004

Vanderbilt geology professor Molly Miller studies the burrows and tracks that ancient animals left behind more than 200 million years ago in a warmer Antarctica. She uses these "trace fossils" to reconstruct the ancient environment, ecosystem and climate.  Her research has convinced her that Antarctica contains important clues about long-term climate change and the origin and evolution of mammals. A multimedia web site developed by the university chronicles her research during recent visits to "the ice."