P. David Polly
Professor and Chair
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University
Professor
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University
with affiliated faculty appointments in Biology and Anthropology
1001 E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47405 USA
Phone: +1-812-855-7994
Email: pdpolly@pollylab.org
Website: www.pollylab.org
Software: https://github.com/pdpolly
Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Education
Ph.D. 1993, Paleontology / Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley
B.A. 1987, Plan II Honors Program (concentration in paleontology, zoology, geology), University of Texas at Austin
Positions
2013-Present, Professor, Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington (with affiliated faculty appointments in Biological Sciences and Anthropology)
2024-Present, Visiting Professor of Evolutionary Paleotology, Department of Geosciences & Geography, University of Helsinki
2018-2019, Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Yale University
2006-2013, Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington. (with affiliated faculty appointments in Biological Sciences and Anthropology)
2001-2006, Lecturer, British usage (Tenured), School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London
1997-2001, Lecturer, British usage (Tenured from 2000 onwards) Division of Biomedical Sciences, St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London
1994-1996, Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor, The Michigan Society of Fellows and Department of Geology, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
P. David Polly is a Professor in and chair of the department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University (IU) A vertebrate paleontologist, he studies the ecology and evolution of mammals and other vertebrates in the fossil record, including trait-based studies of community response to environmental change, geometric morphometric analysis of evolution and morphology, phylogenetics, spatial processes, community assembly, and speciation on regional and continental geographic scales.
David is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and received the James Rohlf Medal for Excellence in Morphometrics (2025). He has served as President of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2016-18), Director of the IU Center for Biological Research Collections (2013-2018), and Associate Director of the Environmental Resilience Institute at IU (2017-2018), and he was an Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar at the Yale University Institute of Biospheric Studies (2018-19) and a Visiting Professor of Evolutionary Paleontology at University of Helsinki (2024-2026).