HI.
I'M JOOD.
I STUDY THE HISTORY OF LIFE AND EARTH.
Who is
Dr. Jood Al Aswad?
I have just completed my Ph.D. at Stanford University in quantitative paleobiology as part of the Payne Paleobiology Lab. On October 2025, I will be joining the Stratigraphic Paleobiology Lab as a postdoc at Virginia Tech.
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Ecosystems have become spatiotemporally simpler many times in the history of life, and it's been warned that it may be happening again in the modern as a hallmark of environmental catastrophe. My research aims to uncover the drivers of ecosystem simplification by turning to the fossil record to disentangle their contributions and interactions with one another.
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Two of the main proposed drivers for global biogeographic change are biodiversity loss and climate change. To provide evidence for this, I examine intervals of mass extinctions and background events, as well as intervals of global warming, cooling, and stable climates, to determine whether any combination of these result in ecosystem simplification at a global scale. I quantify the biogeographic patterns of survivors and originators post-extinction and pair that with a mechanistic model to explain these patterns with other factors, such as ecology, physiology and oceanic chemistry. Learn more about my research here.
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I study how marine ecosystems have become simpler and more interconnected across time and space.
I certainly found my niche in paleobiology!
Aside from that, I have many passions that drive me and shape who I am. One of my goals is in student outreach within the realm of geosciences. To my knowledge, I am the first female Saudi paleontologist. I also draw digitally and with charcoal, and sometimes use that for science. The magnum opus of my creative endeavors is a high fantasy novel I am in the works of writing and hope to publish someday, and incorporates elements of geology into it!
Education
2019 - 2025
Stanford University
Ph.D. Geological Sciences (Paleobiology)
Advised by: Dr. Jon Payne
Projects focus on providing a mechanistic explanation for the global taxonomic homogenization of marine ecosystems following the end-Permian mass extinction, examining the contributions of climate change and biodiversity loss in ecosystem simplification, and a systematic analysis of bivalves from the Lower Triassic of Saudi Arabia.
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2017 - 2019
Cornell University
M.S. Geological Sciences (Stratigraphy and Petrophysics)
Advised by: Dr. Teresa Jordan
Thesis title: "A stratigraphic and petrophysical study of in-situ geothermal reservoir quality of the Cambro-Ordovician subsurface a Cornell University, Ithaca, New York"
2011 - 2016
George Mason University
B.S. Earth Science, concentration in Geology
Advised by: Dr. Linda Hinnov
Research Project: “The harmonic analysis of geophysical phenomena recorded by borehole strainmeters.”
Summer 2021
Friday Harbor Laboratories - University of Washington
Marine Invertebrate Zoology
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Field Camp
Summer 2015