Professor Andrew Knoll ForMemRS

Andrew H. Knoll is the Fisher Professor of Natural History at Harvard University, United States. He received his PhD from Harvard in 1977, and following five years at Oberlin College, returned to Harvard as a faculty member in 1982. Andrew’s research focuses on the early evolution of life, the Earth’s early environmental history, and the interconnections between the two.

His laboratory has made major contributions to our understanding of bacterial, eukaryotic and animal evolution while pioneering the use of isotopic geochemistry for both stratigraphic correlation and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Andrew also served on the science team for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission.

Andrew’s honours include the Walcott and Thompson medals of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the Paleontological Society Medal, the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society, the Oparin Medal of the International Society for the Study of the Origins of Life, and the Phi Beta Kappa Book Award in Science. He is a member of NAS, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Professional position

  • Fisher Research Professor of Natural History, Harvard University

Subject groups

  • Earth and environmental sciences

    Geology

  • Organismal biology, evolution and ecology

    Evolution

Professor Andrew Knoll ForMemRS
Elected 2015