Alejandra Gandolfo
Alejandra Gandolfo
Alejandra Gandolfo
Paleobotanist
Alejandra Gandolfo is a paleobotanist. She studies the evolution and development of ancient plants. She also examines how plant species are related to each other.
Alejandra grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Universidad CAECE, and her Ph.D. from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She was hired by Cornell University in 1994.
Alejandra still teaches at Cornell and describes her students as her biggest achievement. She is now the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Biodiversity and Systematics and Plant Biology. Alejandra also works for the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Trelew, Patagonia, Argentina.
Alejandra has published over 100 peer-reviewed research papers. In 2018, she became the first female and Latina editor-in-chief of an important paleobotany journal, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. She is an alumna of the Fulbright Program and a Hennig Society Fellow.
What advice would you give to a girl or young woman who wants to be a paleontologist?
“GO FOR IT! DO NOT HESITATE! Paleontology is such a rewarding area of research... Life in deep time is basically a complete mystery. Can you imagine all the extraordinary information one can gather in a single dig? Now, think about having the opportunity to dig in many different parts of the world, discovering more and more fossils that provide information of past ecosystems, environments, and climates. These fossils are the only window to past life on Earth. You, future paleontologist, will be the one to help reconstruct the past. The Earth is a vast open space and fossils are everywhere just waiting to be discovered! And while you are digging, your own limits expand as well.”
Alejandra resting after a full day of collecting in Argentina.
Selected technical works by Alejandra Gandolfo
Gandolfo, M.A., K.C. Nixon, and W.L. Crepet. 2002. Triuridaceae fossil flowers from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey. American Journal of Botany 89: 1940–1957. Link
Gandolfo, M.A., E. J. Hermsen, M.C. Zamaloa, K.C. Nixon, C.C. González, P. Wilf, N.R. Cúneo, and K.R. Johnson. 2011. Oldest known Eucalyptus macrofossils are from South America. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21084. Link
Gandolfo, M.A., N.R. Cúneo, and E.J. Hermsen. 2014. Reporte preliminar sobre la paleoflora de la Formación La Colonia (Campaniano-Maastrichtiano, Cretácico tardío), Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana 66: 11–23. Link
Gandolfo, M.A., K.C. Nixon, W.L. Crepet, and D.A. Grimaldi. 2018. A late Cretaceous fagalean inflorescence preserved in amber from New Jersey. American Journal of Botany 105: 1424–1435. Link
Jud, N., and M.A. Gandolfo. 2021. Fossil evidence from South America for the diversification of Cunoniaceae by the earliest Palaeocene. Annals of Botany 127: 305–315. Link
Selected popular articles by Alejandra Gandolfo
Zamaloa, M.C., and M.A. Gandolfo. 2017. Casuarinas y eucaliptos, los árboles perdidos de la Patagonia. CienciaHoy 26(154): 69–75. Link
Further reading
Chakravorty, A. 2016. Fossil leaves provide clues to ancient Australian habitat. Earth: The science behind the headlines. 20 April 2016. Link
Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio. 2017. Some fossils found in Chubut bring answers on the origin of the tomato family. Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio Press Central: Notes, news and discoveries. Link
Poore, C. 2019. Secrets of an extinct landscape. Cornell Alumni Entrepreneurs, 22 July 2019, reprinted from Cornell Research. Link
Poore, C. no date. Secrets of an extinct landscape. Cornell Research. Link
Poore, C. no date. Through wind and dust. Cornell Research. Link