Geerat J. Vermeij

Dr. Geerat Vermeij is Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Davis. Vermeij’s paleobiological research program has focused on the long-term evolutionary interaction between predators and their prey. Analyzing fossils for evidence of interspecific competition, Vermeij has prompted the field of paleobiology to acknowledge the profound influences creatures have on fashioning each other's evolutionary fates. His best-known work chronicles the arms race among long-extinct mollusks and their predators. He has effectively defended a Darwinian view of competition and other biological factors and has made lasting discoveries about the form and function in the molluscan shell and about the structure and the biogeographic distribution of invertebrate reef communities. His studies of faunal interchanges and the historical biogeography of higher latitudes give evidence of the important role of environment in determining biotic diversity. Honors include MacArthur Fellow (1992) and the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal (NAS 2001).