GARDIN Axelle
Temporary Lecturer and Researcher (ATER), ISEM – University of Montpellier
Associated member
Main research question
Specialized in the study of freshwater vertebrates, my research aims to reconstruct ancient aquatic ecosystems, water availability, and seasonal contrasts in intertropical African environments.
I use an interdisciplinary approach combining faunal assemblage analysis, skeletal growth patterns, and isotopic biogeochemistry (δ18O, Δ’17O). I regularly integrate fossil and modern datasets to calibrate environmental proxies.
Topics of study
My current work focuses on:
- Detecting the diversity, and the spatial and temporal structure, of past freshwater ecosystems,
- Developing isotopic approaches to identify past water stress and hydrological refugia,
- Calibrating skeletal growth rhythms in actinopterygian fishes as tracers of seasonal contrasts.
Most of the material I study comes from the Franco-Chadian Paleoanthropological Mission and the Omo Group Research Expedition.
Other roles
- Steering Committee Member, AWAP (Association for early-career Women Archaeologists and Paleontologists)
- Organizing Committee Member, VCWAP (Virtual Conference for Women Archaeologists and Paleontologists)
- Member, Conservation Paleobiology Network
- Member, European Crocodilian Network