Stephanie E. Pierce

Stephanie E. Pierce is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard University, affiliated with the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). She serves as Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Interim Curator of Mammalogy at the MCZ. Her research focuses on the evolution of vertebrate musculoskeletal systems, integrating biomechanics, paleontology, and functional morphology to understand how form and function evolved in tetrapods and synapsids. Key projects include studying postural transitions in synapsids, the evolution of the mammalian vertebral column, and the functional adaptations enabling terrestrialization in early tetrapods.

Dr. Pierce's work is supported by grants such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant 1524523, which examines the functional evolution of the mammalian backbone. Her lab, the Stephanie Pierce Lab, collaborates widely and includes postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and international teams. Recent work has revealed insights into the radiation of reptiles post-mass extinctions and the discovery of early South American predators. She has also been featured in podcasts and media for her contributions to paleontology and evolutionary biology.

Her research spans disciplines including evolutionary biomechanics, paleohistology, and computational modeling, with a focus on major transitions in vertebrate evolution. She leads projects that bridge the gap between extant and extinct organisms to reconstruct ancestral functional traits and evolutionary trajectories.