paleontologist scientist university professor
Briggs was educated at Dublin where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology in 1972. He went on to the University of Cambridge to work under British palaeontologist Harry Blackmore Whittington. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in 1976 on Arthropods from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, Canada.
Briggs is one of three palaeontologists, along with Harry Blackmore Whittington and Simon Conway Morris, who were key in the reinterpretation of the fossils of the Burgess Shale. Research and While at the University of Cambridge, Briggs worked on the fossils of the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia alongside a fellow student Simon Conway Morris, both under the supervision of Harry Whittington, on the exceptionally well-preserved Burgess Shale fauna. The Burgess Shale project subsequently became one of the most celebrated endeavours in the field of palaeontology in the latter half of the 20th century.
On 1 July 2008 he took over as Director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
He became the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Yale in 2011. Briggs"s research is on the taphonomy, or preservation, and evolutionary significance of the exceptionally preserved fossil biotas known as Konservat-Lagerstätten – fossil formations that include evidence of faunal soft tissue.
His work involves a range of approaches from experimental work on the factors controlling decay and fossilisation, through studies of early diagenetic mineralisation and organic preservation, to field work on a range of fossil occurrences.
1999 – Fellow of the Royal Society 2000 – Premio Capo d"Orlando (Italian prize for palaeontology 2000 — Lyell Medal, Geological Society of London 2001 — Boyle Medal, Royal Dublin Society/Irish Times 2002–2004 – President, Palaeontological Association 2003 – Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy 2003 — President Elect, Paleontological Society 2008 – Humboldt Research Award 2009 – Bownocker Medal, Ohio State University His nomination for elected to the Royal Society reads:.
Royal Society; Paläontologische Gesellschaft]
2003 – Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy.
