The Florida Museum of Natural History, a research and educational unit within the University of Florida, has a very active program in paleontology and paleobiology.

There are three large, relevant research collections, including invertebrate paleontology, paleobotany and vertebrate paleontology, which taken together contain over six million specimens. The research facilities within the museum or in affiliated departments are modern, comprehensive, and include screenwashing and preparation laboratories, stereo, light, and scanning electron microscopes, mass spectrometer, image analysis systems, and paleomagnetic laboratory. In addition to the main UF libraries, the Florida Museum includes the George Gaylord Simpson and Paleobotany research libraries, which together contain about 3,500 books and monographs, runs of 25 specialized journals, and 60,000 reprints.

Prospective graduate students intending to pursue Master’s or Doctoral studies in paleontology or paleobiology can apply to the departments of Biology, Geology, or Anthropology, depending upon their particular background and research interests. Financial support is available in the form of graduate teaching assistantships and museum assistantships. For application materials and further information about these programs contact:

Graduate Coordinator
(appropriate department as listed above)
University of Florida
Gainesville FL 32611

It is also helpful during the application process to contact one of the faculty members with interests similar to yours listed below. View the list of current paleontology faculty.

There are many graduate courses in paleontology, paleobiology, and related disciplines taught at UF. Each program of graduate coursework is quite flexible, depending upon the particular needs and interests of the student. Courses taught by Florida Museum paleobiologists include:

Paleobotany, 3 credits (Manchester)
Paleoecology, 3 credits (Jones)
Topics in Paleobiology, 2 credits (Jones, MacFadden)
Evolution, 3 credits (MacFadden, co-taught with other Biology Faculty)
Vertebrate Macroevolution, 3 credits (MacFadden)
Vertebrate Paleontology, 3 credits (Bloch and/or MacFadden)
The Fossil Record and the Evolution of Mammals, 3 credits (Bloch)
Topics in Field Geology: Florida Vertebrate Paleontology, 2 credits (Bloch)
Vertebrate Paleontology Seminar, 1 credit (Bloch, Steadman, MacFadden)
Individual studies
Supervised research
Master’s and Doctoral Research

Other related courses available to paleobiology graduate students include systematics, mammalogy, herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology, community ecology, morphometrics, micropaleontology, invertebrate paleontology, paleomagnetism, vertebrate paleoecology, human osteology, isotope geology, and zooarchaeology.