Speaker:
Prof Mark Williams
Bio:
Mark Williams is Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Leicester. He researches and teaches Earth evolution, palaeontology, climate and environmental change, and has a particular interest in the Anthropocene.
He is the co-author of the popular books ‘The Goldilocks Planet’, ‘Ocean worlds’, ‘Skeletons the frame of life’ and of the forthcoming ‘The cosmic oasis’ (all Oxford University Press). He is also the coauthor of ‘The Anthropocene – a multidisciplinary approach’ (Polity books).
He has worked on all continents, and in all terranes from Antarctic icescapes, to the deserts of North Africa and central Asia, to the jungles of southeast Asia.
He is the co-author of the popular books ‘The Goldilocks Planet’, ‘Ocean worlds’, ‘Skeletons the frame of life’ and of the forthcoming ‘The cosmic oasis’ (all Oxford University Press). He is also the coauthor of ‘The Anthropocene – a multidisciplinary approach’ (Polity books).
He has worked on all continents, and in all terranes from Antarctic icescapes, to the deserts of North Africa and central Asia, to the jungles of southeast Asia.
Topic:
Date:
14 January 2026
Time:
7:30pm – 9:00pm
Add to your calendar
14 January 2026 19:30
14 January 2026 21:00
Europe/London
Lecture: Prof Mark Williams
Summary
The lecture will explore the dominant themes of Prof Williams work. As a palaeontologist, he has spent a lifetime collecting fragments of past lives to weave stories about how life on Earth has changed over millions of years. Sometimes these changes were remarkably good, like the evolution of flowers, and sometimes very bad, like the loss of entire groups of animals such as the dinosaurs. He uses the patterns that emerge from the deep geological record to help inform the near-future trajectory of life on Earth in the Anthropocene.
