Jenny March

Jenny March
Name	Jenny March
Birth date	19XX
Birth place	London
Occupation	Geologist, paleontologist
Known for	Fossil coral taxonomy, Paleogene stratigraphy
Alma mater	University of Cambridge, University College London
Awards	Geological Society of London lectureship

Jenny March

Jenny March was a British geologist and paleontologist noted for her work on fossil corals, Paleogene stratigraphy, and biostratigraphic correlation in the North Atlantic region. Her research bridged detailed taxonomic revision and regional synthesis, influencing studies at institutions such as Natural History Museum, London and British Geological Survey. March's collaborations linked specialists from University of Cambridge, University College London, and international teams focused on Eocene and Oligocene successions.

Early life and education

Born in London, March grew up amid the British field geology tradition associated with figures from the Geological Society of London and collections at the Natural History Museum, London. She read geology at University of Cambridge under tutors who had trained with experts from University of Oxford and Imperial College London. For postgraduate work she moved to University College London to study Paleogene corals, benefiting from access to type collections at the Natural History Museum, London and to stratigraphic archives held by the British Geological Survey. During her doctoral research she worked with curators and paleontologists who had links to the Royal Society and the international coral taxonomy community centered on meetings of the International Paleontological Association.

Career and research contributions

March held research positions at the Natural History Museum, London and at the British Geological Survey, and later accepted visiting fellowships at University of Cambridge and at international centers such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. Her core contributions were taxonomic monographs revising families of fossil scleractinian corals from Paleogene deposits, clarifying species concepts used in regional correlation across the North Sea, English Channel, and Bay of Biscay. She integrated methods developed at the University of Oxford and the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées to reassess coral morphotypes in response to diagenesis and taphonomic bias documented by researchers affiliated with the Geological Society of America.

March pioneered combining morphological analysis with stratigraphic distribution patterns used by workers at the British Geological Survey and isotope stratigraphers from University College London to refine zonations across the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Her fieldwork included sections in southern England, Normandy, and the Paris Basin, where she collaborated with sedimentologists and paleontologists linked to the École Normale Supérieure and the Université de Lille. She contributed to international workshops hosted by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and engaged with marine micropaleontologists from Bremen University and University of Barcelona to place coral occurrences into broader biostratigraphic frameworks.

Major publications and collaborations

March authored and coauthored monographs and papers published through venues associated with the Geological Society of London and the Journal of Paleontology, often in collaboration with curators from the Natural History Museum, London and stratigraphers at the British Geological Survey. Her taxonomic revisions reunited type-specimens from collections at the Natural History Museum, London with new material from Belgium and Germany, coordinating work with scientists at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung. Major collaborative projects linked researchers from University of Cambridge, University College London, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris to produce regionally significant faunal lists and correlation charts used in synthesis volumes published by the Geological Society of London.

She contributed chapters to compendia alongside specialists from the International Commission on Stratigraphy and from laboratories at Trinity College Dublin and University of Copenhagen, integrating coral taxonomy with planktonic foraminiferal zonations developed at University of Oslo and isotope datasets produced by groups at ETH Zurich. Her collaborative networks extended to field teams working in the Channel Islands and on North Atlantic seabed cores coordinated by the National Oceanography Centre, UK.

Awards and recognition

March received recognition from the Geological Society of London and was invited to deliver named lectures and to chair sessions at meetings of the Palaeontological Association and the International Paleontological Association. Her monographs were cited in regional syntheses produced by the British Geological Survey and used as reference works in university courses at University College London and University of Cambridge. She was awarded grants and fellowships supported by bodies such as the Natural Environment Research Council and collaborated on internationally funded projects involving partners at the Smithsonian Institution and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.

Personal life and legacy

March balanced museum-based research with extensive field seasons across Europe and curatorial work at the Natural History Museum, London, mentoring younger scientists who later joined faculties at University of Cambridge, University College London, and international institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. Her legacy includes taxonomic standards for Paleogene coral identification, stratigraphic schemes adopted in regional mapping by the British Geological Survey, and training materials used in collections management at the Natural History Museum, London. Collections she curated and the collaborative datasets she helped assemble remain resources for researchers at the Palaeontographical Society and for ongoing stratigraphic studies led by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.

Category:British geologists Category:Paleontologists