Professional career

• 2016-2023 Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin (DFG projects 450530525, 451940900)
• 2015-2016 Lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin
• 2015 Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme (CASP), Cambridge, UK; Project: North Atlantic Margins Evolution (NAME)
• 2009-2014 University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
• Since 2008 Excavations in association with Nanjing University in the provinces Gansu, Guangxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia

Education and degrees held

• 2014 PhD at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
• 2011 Participant of the five-week Paleobiology Database Workshop at the Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia
• 2009 German Diploma in Geology and Palaeontology at the University of Würzburg, Germany
• 2007 & 2008 Visiting student researcher at the Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
• 2004-2005 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, UK

Courses

At Freie Universität Berlin

• Introduction to Palaeobiology (Allgemeine Paläontologie; ongoing)
• Invertebrate Palaeobiology (Paläobiologie der wirbellosen Tiere I und II: Porifera, Cnidaria, Arthropoda, Brachiopoda, Mollusca: Bivalvia; ongoing)
• Microfacies Analysis of Carbonate Rocks (Mikrofazies der Karbonate; ongoing)
• Sample preparation in Palaeontology (Methoden der Paläontologie)
• Palynology (Angewandte Palynologie)
• Student seminars
• Data Analysis (Analytische Methoden in der Paläontologie)
• Micropalaeontology and Biostratigraphy (Mikropaläontologie und Biostratigraphie)
• Facies Models (Faziesinterpretation)

At University of Erlangen-Nürnberg

• Data Analysis (Proxies in der Paläoumweltrekonstruktion: Statistik)
• Palaeobiodiversity (Paläobiodiversität)
• Arthropod palaeobiology (Paläontologie der Invertebraten: Arthropoda)

Field Trips to

2019 Jul - Normandy, France
2017 Jul/Aug - Normandy, France
2016 Jul/Aug - Normandy, France
2016 Mar - Messel, Germany
2015 Sep - Normandy, France
2015 Aug - Normandy, France

Short course

• Introduction to palaeontological data analysis (3 days; Nanjing, China April 2016)

Students advised (since 2015)

As main advisor

• Hydrological patterns across the Middle Jurassic Daohugou catchment range, Yanliao fossillagerstätte, Inner Mongolia, China (Lisa von Nolting, BSc, in prep.; co-advisor Alexander Rohrmann, FU Berlin)
• Rekonstruktion von Umweltschwankungen im Nanningsee der frühen Icehouse-Welt: Stabile Isotope in Ostrakoden der oligozänen Yongning Formation, Südchina (Clara Wiegel, BSc, ongoing; co-advisors Ulrich Struck, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and Frank Riedel, FU Berlin)
• Paläoökologische Analyse oligozäner Ostrakodenvergesellschaftungen des Nanning Beckens, Südchina (Theresa Kutzner, BSc, 2020; co-advisor Frank Riedel, FU Berlin)
• Ostracod community development in the palaeo-ancient Lake Nanning (Gökçe Şanlıalp, MSc, 2020; co-advisor Frank Riedel, FU Berlin)
• Taphonomische Analyse der Makrofauna aus dem unteren Kimmeridgium der Marnes de Bléville Formation, Normandie, Frankreich (Maja Bunke, BSc, 2020; co-advisor Martin Aberhan, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)
• Diversität und ontogenetische Variabilität einer oligozänen Ostrakodenvergesellschaftung aus dem Nanning Becken, Südchina (Jasmin Hegert, BSc, 2019; co-advisor Frank Riedel, FU Berlin)
• Temperature effects on size and shape in the modern spinicaudatan Eulimnadia texana (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) (Veronika Schöttle, BSc, 2019; co-advisor Frank Riedel, FU Berlin)
• Paläoökologie benthischer Invertebraten aus der unterjurassischen Amaltheenton Formation Süddeutschlands (Kristine Scheffler, MSc, 2018; co-advisors Helmut Keupp and Theo Engeser, FU Berlin)
• Morphometric variability in spinicaudatans of the Middle to Late Jurassic Yanliao Biota, Hebei and Liaoning (China) (Jan Schmidt, BSc, 2018; co-advisor Baoyu Jiang, Nanjing University)
• Analyse einer benthischen Faunengemeinschaft aus dem Schelfbereich des Callovium der Normandie, Frankreich (Romina Reike, BSc, 2017; co-advisor Franz Fürsich, Erlangen)
• Morphological response of the bivalve Nicaniella extensa to palaeoenvironmental changes in the Kimmeridgian of Normandy, France (Andreas Labohm, BSc, 2017)
• Paleontological analysis of unique, abundant and subparallel notostracan trace fossils from the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in Dinosaur National Monument, northeastern Utah, USA (Josephina Hartung, BSc, 2017; co-advisor Anne Bernhardt, FU Berlin)
• Sea-level fluctuations in the Kimmeridgian of Normandy, France, using palynofacies analysis (Jessica Loeper, BSc, 2017; co-advisor Olaf Lenz, TU Darmstadt)
• Charakterisierung und Genese der ‚Pyriterzbank‘ aus der Spinatum-Zone des oberen Pliensbachium von Buttenheim, Süddeutschland (Alexander Tiedtke, BSc, 2017; co-advisor Helmut Keupp, FU Berlin)
• Hard- and firmground formation in the Kimmeridgian Bancs de Plomb of Normandy, France (Maxim Sikorski, BSc, 2017)
• Microfossil community changes in the Kimmeridgian of Normandy, France (Christina Becht, postgraduate research project, 2017; co-advisor Frank Riedel, FU Berlin)

As co-advisor

• New laniatorid harvestmen fossils (Arachnida: Opiliones) from Late Cretaceous Burmese amber and Eocene Baltic amber (Christian Bartel, MSc, 2019; co-advisors Jason Dunlop and Ulrich Struck, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)
• Mikrofazies der unterkarbonischen Spaltenfüllungen in devonischen Riffkalksteinen am Winterberg, Oberharz (Richard Arlt, BSc, 2019; co-advisor Dieter Korn, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)
• Biodiversity of Paleozoic Eureptilia (Christine Grabs, BSc, 2018; co-advisor Jörg Fröbisch, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)
• Biostratigraphy and geometric morphometrics of conchostracans (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) from the Late Triassic fissure deposits of Cromhall Quarry, UK (Jake Morton, MSc, 2016; co-advisors David Whiteside and Michael Benton, University of Bristol)
• High-resolution taphonomic and palaeoecological analysis of the Jurassic Yanliao Biota from the Daohugou area, NE China (Wang Shengyu, BSc, 2016; co-advisor Baoyu Jiang, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China)
• Eine Walzenspinne (Arachnida, Solifugae) aus dem Burmesischen Bernstein der Oberkreide (Christian Bartel, BSc, 2016; co-advisor Jason Dunlop, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)
• Mikrofazies-Analyse im Kimmeridgium des Langenbergs bei Oker/Niedersachsen (David Eichhorn, BSc, 2016; co-advisor Michael Schudack, FU Berlin)

What do lake organisms reveal about climate change during greenhouse and icehouse world scenarios? – This fundamental question represents the key aspect of my general research interest that addresses the effect of climate change on lacustrine communities during the past 165 million years. Lakes and wetlands are biodiversity hotspots that are severely affected by modern global warming and associated shifts in lake surface temperatures. The limited ability of lake communities to respond to climate change by migrating along the water column renders lacustrine species especially sensitive to extinction. Consequently, “freshwater species are going extinct more rapidly than terrestrial or marine species”¹. Palaeolake environments witnessed major re-organizations during the past 165 million years, including the mid-Cretaceous Hothouse, the Oligocene early Icehouse world, and the Pliocene–Pleistocene climate cooling leading to arctic glaciation. I study these crucial phases in Earth’s history as (reverse) analogues of possible future global change. I believe that a thorough understanding of animal growth strategies, biomineralization and habitat requirements is vital for the palaeoclimate interpretation of fossil data. Thus, my research follows a multidisciplinary approach that will, over the coming years, explore innovative ways to achieve the required precision for sub-seasonal climate reconstructions and to provide insights that have the potential to unravel the evolutionary history of lake ecosystems.

¹International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2021. Freshwater biodiversity.

Methods

• Field work (mapping; scientific excavations with groups of >20 participants)
• Statistical data analysis (traditional and geometric morphometrics; palaeoecological analyses)
• Programming in R
• Stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O in mainly ostracods and gastropods)
• Elemental sediment compositions (X-ray fluorescence)
• Biogeochemical analyses (GDGT biomarkers, n-alkanes)
• Software Photoshop, CorelDRAW (graphics), R, JMP Pro, PAST (data analysis), OpenChrom (chromatography)
• Rearing experiments

Research papers (Peer-reviewed)

• Hethke, M., Hartmann, K., Alberti, M., Kutzner, T., Schwentner, M. accepted. Testing the success of palaeontological methods in the delimitation of clam shrimp (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) on extant species. – Palaeontology.
• Wiese, R., Harrington, K., Hartmann, K., Hethke, M., von Rintelen, T., Zhang, H., Zhang, L., Riedel, F. 2022. Can fractal dimensions objectivize gastropod shell morphometrics? A case study from Lake Lugu (SW China). – Ecology and Evolution 12: e8622.
• Pott, C., Jiang, B., Hethke, M. 2021. Plant macrofossils from the Upper Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation in the Song­liao Basin, NE China: Palaeoenvironmental implications. – Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology: 104524.
• Hethke, M., Weeks, S.C., Schöttle, V., Rogers, D.C. 2021. Preliminary study of temperature effects on size and sha­pe in the modern spinicaudatan Eulimnadia texana (Crustacea: Branchiopoda). – Zoological Studies 60: 2.
• Hethke, M., Weeks, S.C. 2020. Population density effects on carapace growth in clam shrimp: Implications for palaeontological studies. – Zoological Studies 59: 33.
• Müller, C., Hethke, M., Riedel, F., Helle, G. 2020. Inter- and intra-tree variability of carbon and oxygen stable isotope ratios of modern pollen from nine European tree species. – PLoS ONE 15: e0234315.
• Fürsich, F.T., Custódio, M.A., Matos, S.A., Hethke, M., Quaglio, F., Warren, L.V., Assine, M.L., Simões, M.G. 2019. Analysis of a Cretaceous (late Aptian) high-stress ecosystem: The Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil. – Cretaceous Research 95: 268–296.
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang, B., Wang, B., Chellouche, P., Weeks, S.C. 2019. Ecological stasis in Spinicaudata (Crustacea, Branchiopoda)? Early Cretaceous clam shrimp of the Yixian Formation of north-east China occupied a broader realized ecological niche than extant members of the group. – Palaeontology 62: 483–513.
• Wang, S., Hethke, M., Wang, B., Tian, Q., Yang, Z., Jiang, B. 2019. High-resolution taphonomic and palaeoecological analyses of the Jurassic Yanliao Biota of the Daohugou area, northeastern China. – Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 530: 200–216.
• Yang, Z., Wang, S., Tian, Q., Wang, B., Hethke, M., McNamara, M.E., Benton, M.J., Xu, X., Jiang, B. 2019. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and biostratinomic analysis of the Jurassic Yanliao Lagerstätte in northeastern China. – Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 514: 739–753.
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Morton, J.D., Jiang, B. 2018. Analysis of morphological variability in the clam shrimp Eosestheria middendorfii (Crustacea, Spinicaudata) from the Lower Cretaceous of China, and its implications for spinicaudatan taxonomy. – Papers in Palaeontology 4: 21–53.
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Schneider, S., Jiang, B. 2017. Sex determination of the Early Cretaceous clam shrimp Eosestheria middendorfii (Yixian Formation, China). – Lethaia 50: 105–121.
• Morton, J.D., Whiteside, D.I., Hethke, M., Benton, M.J. 2017. Biostratigraphy and geometric morphometrics of conchostracans (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) from the Late Triassic fissure deposits of Cromhall Quarry, UK. – Palaeontology 60: 349–374.
• Alberti, M., Pandey, D.K., Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T. 2015. Ammonites of the subfamily Mayaitinae Spath, 1928, from the Oxfordian of Kachchh, Western India. – Geobios 48: 85–130.
• Huntley, J.W., Fürsich, F.T., Alberti, M., Hethke, M., Liu, C. 2014. A complete Holocene record of trematode-bivalve infection and implications for the response of parasitism to climate change. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 111: 18150–18155.
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang B., Klaus R. 2013. Oxygen deficiency in Lake Sihetun; formation of the Lower Cretaceous Liaoning Fossillagerstätte (China). – Journal of the Geological Society, London 170: 817–831.
• Alberti, M., Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Liu, C. 2013. Macro- versus microfauna: Resolution potential of bivalves, gastropods, foraminifera and ostracods in reconstructing the Holocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Pearl River Delta, China. – Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 93: 327–353.
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang, B., Pan, Y. 2013. Seasonal to sub-seasonal palaeoenvironmental changes in Lake Sihetun (Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, NE China). – International Journal of Earth Sciences 102: 351–378.
• Jiang B., Fürsich F.T., Hethke, M. 2012. Depositional evolution of the Early Cretaceous Sihetun Lake and implications for regional climatic and volcanic history in western Liaoning, NE China. – Sedimentary Geology 257–260: 31–44.

Report for research subscribers

• Schneider, S., Guo, L., Kershaw, S., Hethke, M., Shaw, D. 2021. Palaeoecology, taphonomy and diagenesis of Early Jurassic shell accumulations in Lake Sichuan, China, and their implications for Pre-Salt reservoirs in the South Atlantic. – Continental Carbonate Project 2017-19, Report Number: CASP.CCPS2017-19.4, pp. 128. (My contribution: Extraction, identification, description and palaeoecological analysis of ostracods and spinicaudatan crustaceans of the continental Sichuan Basin, China.)

Oral and poster presentations

• Hethke, M., Weeks, S.C., Schöttle, V. 2019. Environmental effects on clam shrimp size and shape: Implications for palaeontological studies. – 90th Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, München, Germany, 15–19 September 2019. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M. 2019. Zeig mir dein Gewand und ich sag dir wer du bist: Schalenwachstum bei Conchostraca. – Fachgruppe Paläontologie am Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany, 18 June 2019. (Invited speaker for a weekly series of lectures)
• Hethke, M., Weeks, S.C., Schöttle, V. 2019. Environmental effects on clam shrimp size and shape: Implications for palaeontological studies. – The Crustacean Society Mid-Year Meeting, Hong Kong, China, 26–30 May 2019. (Oral presentation; invited speaker)
• Hethke, M., Riedel, F., Wiese, R., Struck, U. 2018. Ostracod community development in a proposed palaeo-ancient lake of the Paleogene Nanning Basin, South China. – Speciation in Ancient Lakes 8 (SIAL 8), Entebbe, Uganda, 29 July–03 August 2018. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Morton, J.D., Jiang, B. 2017. Taxonomic revision of the clam shrimp Eosestheria middendorfii (Crustacea: Spinicaudata) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China. – Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Münster, Germany, 26–30 March 2017. (Poster presentation)
• Morton, J.D., Whiteside, D.I., Hethke, M., Benton, M. 2016. Biostratigraphy and geometric morphometrics of conchostracans (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) from the Late Triassic fissure deposits of Cromhall Quarry. – The Palaeontological Association, 60th Annual Meeting, Lyon, 14–17 December 2016. (Poster presentation)
• Alberti, M., Pandey, D.K., Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T. 2014. Ammonites of the family Mayaitidae Spath, 1928, from the Oxfordian of Kachch, western India. – 9th International Congress on the Jurassic System, Jaipur, India, 06–09 January 2014. (Poster presentation)
• Hethke, M., Felsch, T., Fürsich, F.T. 2014. Refined palaeoenvironmental analysis based on changes in macrobenthic communities: A case study from the Kimmeridgian of Normandy. – 9th International Congress on the Jurassic System, Jaipur, India, 06–09 January 2014. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang, B. 2013. Ecosystem evolution of Lake Sihetun: A multiproxy approach to the Early Cretaceous Liaoning Fossillagerstätte (China). – Joint meeting of the Palaeontological Society of China and the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Göttingen, Germany, 23–27 September 2013. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M., Alberti, M., Fürsich, F.T., Liu, C. 2012. Ostracods as a tool for reconstructing the evolution of the Holocene Pearl River delta of China. – International German Ostracodologists’ Meeting, Cologne, Germany, 11–14 October 2012. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M., Alberti, M., Fürsich, F.T., Liu, C. 2012. A multiproxy approach to the reconstruction of relative sea-level changes in the Holocene Pearl River delta of China. – Jubiläumstagung der Paläontologischen Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, 24–29 September 2012. (Poster presentation)
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang, B. 2012. Oxygen deficiency in Lake Sihetun (NE China) and its consequences: Formation of a Lower Cretaceous fossillagerstätte. – Jubiläumstagung der Paläontologischen Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, 24–29 September 2012. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang, B. 2010. The role of microbial sealing of laminated sediment in exceptional preservation of Jurassic lake biota from Gansu (China). – Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Munich, Germany, 06–08 October 2010. (Oral presentation)
• Hethke, M., Fürsich, F.T., Jiang, B. 2010. Determining morphotypes of fossil clam shrimps by Fourier shape analysis: possible implications and limitations tested on Middle Jurassic specimens from Gansu, China. – 8th International Congress on the Jurassic System, Sichuan, China, 09–13 August 2010. (Poster presentation)