Marissa Betts

Dr Marissa Betts is a Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University of New England (UNE), Australia, specialising in early Cambrian palaeontology and stratigraphy. She is a geologist and invertebrate palaeontologist renowned for integrating shelly fossil biostratigraphy with chemostratigraphy and geochronology to date and correlate lower Cambrian successions across South Australia, Antarctica, China, Mongolia and Canada.

Education & Qualifications:

• PhD (topic and institution inferred as UNE; exact title not stated)

Research Interests: Her work centres on the early Cambrian (ca. 538–509 Ma) radiation of complex skeletons, employing both traditional palaeontological description and cutting-edge multiproxy chronostratigraphy. Key themes include:

• Early Cambrian chronostratigraphy & timescale refinement
• Shelly fossil biostratigraphy and biozonation
• Carbon isotope chemostratigraphy for global correlation
• Bradoriid arthropod palaeobiology, functional morphology and systematics
• Carbonate sedimentology and microbial-metazoan buildups
• Acid-leaching methodologies for small carbonaceous fossils

Field areas span the Flinders Ranges, Stansbury & Arrowie basins, Transantarctic Mountains, Mongolian Bayan Gol, and Chinese Three Gorges, yielding data critical to palaeogeographic reconstructions of East Gondwana.

Publication Trends: Betts’ 2024-25 output reveals intensive focus on integrating high-precision U-Pb ID-TIMS dates with biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic signals to resolve the Cambrian Series 2–Miaolingian boundary, particularly in South Australian basins. Additional papers explore brachiopod and bradoriid evolution, extinction events (e.g., Sinsk event), and novel shell microstructures, signalling a dual emphasis on high-resolution chronostratigraphy and evolutionary palaeoecology.

Scientific Awards & Recognition:

• Superstar of STEM, Science & Technology Australia (2021-2022)
• NSW Young Tall Poppy Award (2021)
• A.H. Voisey Medal, Geological Society of Australia (2021)
• Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow (2022)

Teaching & Supervision: She coordinates GEOL120 Dynamic Earth and GEOL202 Introductory Palaeontology, teaches into GEOL110 Blue Planet and GEOL311 Palaeontology & Stratigraphy, and supervises a vibrant team of Honours and HDR students. Together with Drs Tim Chapman and Luke Milan she co-founded LithoLabUNE, a multidisciplinary geoscience research and teaching hub connecting on-campus and online geoscience students.

Outreach & Impact: Committed to diversity in STEM, Betts volunteers as a STEM Coach for Curious Minds Australia and hosts the Sci-Flicks science-film events and podcast in Armidale. She wrote, directed and produced the short film ROLA [STONE] linking geology, landscape and culture.