Fabiany Herrera
Collecting Paleocene fossil leaves in Colombia
Address
PhD Student - Biology Department
Florida Museum of Natural History
Paleobotany & Palynology Group
University of Florida
Gainesville, Fl, USA
Carlos Jaramillo’s Research Group
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama
Email: fherrera@flmnh.ufl.edu
Birth date: February 4, 1978
Birth place: Bucaramanga, Colombia
Research Interests
My research focuses on the evolutionary origin of the South American rainforests by looking at plant macrofossils. I am interested to know when and how the tropical rainforests appeared in the Neotropics, what mechanisms have produced the high species diversity and the characteristic family composition. I want to reconstruct the paleoclimatic, paleoecological and paleobiogeographical conditions under which the ancient Neotropical rainforest flourished, particularly during the Late Cretaceous, Paleogene and Middle Miocene. I am also interested on the systematic and taxonomy of Neotropical fossil plants.
Education
B.S. Geology, Industrial University of Santander, 2005
M.S. Geology, University of Florida, 2008
Major Positions Held
Intern-Research, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Fall 2005 to summer 2006, summer 2007, summer 2008, Panama. Carlos Jaramillo’s lab.
Intern-Research, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. Fall 2004, spring, 2006, fall 2008. Scott Wing’s lab.
Research Assistant, Biostratigraphy Team, Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo, 2003-2004-2005
Geologist, Cerrejon Mine, Colombia, 2003 – 2004
Field Geologist, Rio Loro Section, Venezuela, April 2003
Teaching Experience
Age of Dinosaurs, Geology Department, University of Florida, 2006-2008
Introductory Biology BSC2011, Biology Department, University of Florida, 2009 to date
Paleontology, Industrial University of Santander, Bucaramanga, 2000-2002
Published Articles
Jaramillo, C., Hoorn, C., Silva, S., Leite, F., Herrera, F., Quiroz, L., Dino, R., and Antonioli, L. 2010. The origin of the modern Amazon rainforest: implications from the palynological and paleobotanical record. In: Hoorn, M.C. and Wesselingh, F.P. (Eds.) Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution. Blackwell, Oxford: 317-334
Wing, S.L., Herrera, F., Jaramillo, C., Gomez, C., Wilf, P., and Labandeira, C.C. 2009. Late Paleocene fossils from the Cerrejón Formation, Colombia, are the earliest record of Neotropical Rainforest. PNAS 106: 18627-18632.
Head, J., Bloch, J. Hasting, A., Bourque, J., Cadena, E., Herrera, F, Polly, P.D., and Jaramillo, C. 2009 Giant Boine Snake From A Paleocene Neotropical Rainforest Indicates Hotter Past Equatorial Temperatures. Nature 457: 715-718.
Head, J., Bloch, J. Hasting, A., Bourque, J., Cadena, E., Herrera, F, Polly, P.D., and Jaramillo, C. 2009, Reply. Nature 460: E4-E5, doi:10.1038/nature08225.
Gomez, N., Jaramillo, C., Herrera, F., Wing, S.L., and Callejas, R. 2009. Palms (Arecaceae) from a Paleocene rainforest of northern Colombia. American Journal of Botany, 96: 1300-1312.
Doria, G., Jaramillo, C. A., Herrera, F.A. 2008. Menispermaceae from the Cerrejón Formation, middle to late Paleocene, Colombia. American Journal of Botany 95(8): 954–973.
Fabiany A. Herrera, Carlos A. Jaramillo, David L. Dilcher, Scott L. Wing and Carolina Gómez-N. 2008. Fossil Araceae from a Paleocene neotropical rainforest in Colombia. American Journal of Botany 95(12): 1569–1583. 2008.
Published Abstracts
Herrera, Fabiany, et al. 2008. Fossils from Colombia reveal tropical rainforest in the Paleocene greenhouse world. IOPC-VIII, Bonn, Germany, Abstract.
Fabiany Herrera, C. Jaramillo, S. Wing, and D. Dilcher. A 60 Million Year Old Neotropical Rainforest: Cerrejón Paleoflora. 40th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. September 8-12, 2007.
Doria, G., Jaramillo, C., and Herrera, F. 2008 Menispermaceae Leaves from the Paleocene of Colombia. Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting
Herrera, F; Dilcher, D.L; Jaramillo, C; and Wing, S.L. Araceous fossil leaves from the Paleocene of Colombia, Northern South America. 24th Annual Mid-Continent Paleobotanical Colloquium, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, March 16-18th 2007.
Fabiany Herrera, C. Jaramillo, D. Dilcher, S. Wing. Araceous fossils from an Ancient Neotropical Rainforest of Colombia. 40th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. September 8-12, 2007.
Herrera, F., Jaramillo, C., Wing, S.L, 2005. Warm (Not Hot) Tropics During the Late Paleocene: First Continental Evidence. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, San Francisco California, 5-9 December.
Montes, C., Bayona, G., Jaramillo, C., Ojeda, G., Molina, M., and Herrera, F., 2005. Uplift of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Subsidence in the Cesar-Rancheria Valley: Rigid-Beam Pivot Model, in 6th International Symposium of Andean Geodynamics, Barcelona, Extended Abstracts: 520-523.
Herrera Fabiany., Wing Scott L., Jaramillo Carlos. Paleoclima de la Formación Cerrejon: Un Bosque Húmedo Tropical hace 60 millones de años y su Impacto en el Clima Global. Conferencia Geológica del Cerrejón, 18 Febrero 2005.
Bloch, J., Cadena, E., Herrera, F., Wing, S.L., Jaramillo, C. 2005. Paleocene vertebrates from the Cerrejón Formation, Guajira peninsula, Northeastern Colombia. Sixty-Fith anaual meeting, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Mesa Southwest Museum and Phoenix Marriott Mesa, Mesa Arizona, October 19-22.
Wing, S. L., Herrera, F., and Jaramillo, C. 2004. A Paleocene flora from the Cerrejón Formation, Guajíra Peninsula, northeastern Colombia. VII International Organization of
Paleobotany Conference Abstracts, pp. 146–147 (21–26 March). Museo Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina.
Herrera F; Jaramillo C. 2004. Un Bosque Húmedo Tropical Durante el Paleoceno Superior y su Impacto en el Clima Global. VI Semana Técnica de Geología e Ingeniería Geológica, Bucaramanga Abril 19 - 23 de 2004.
Jaramillo Carlos., Herrera Fabiany., Wing Scott L., 2004. A Paleocene Flora from The Cerrejon Formation, Guajira Peninsula, Northeastern Colombia. 2nd Colombian Biome Meeting, 4-5 Noviembre de 2004, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional, Bogota.
Jaramillo, C.A.; Rueda, M.J.; Parra, F.; Bedoya, G; Gomez, C., Mejia, P.; Cadena, E.; Herrera, F.; Antolinez, H.; Florez, P.; Santos, C. and Cogollo, M. 2004. Quantitative biostratigraphy for the Tertiary of the Llanos Foothills, Colombia: Improving palynological resolution for oil exploration. XI IPC, Grenada, Spain, Polen 14: 189-190.
Herrera F; Jaramillo C; 2003. Determinación de la Paleotemperatura del Paleoceno superior en zonas tropicales a partir de Megafósiles de plantas de la Formación Cerrejón. IX Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Medellín, julio 30, 31 y agosto 1.
Grants and Fellowships
Gary S. Morgan Student Research award. A new late Paleocene Flora from the Bogota Formation (Colombia) and its significance for understanding the early Evolution of Neotropical Rainforest. 2010, US $1,000
GSA Research Grant. Paleocene tropical Floras: Implications for the Paleoclimate and the Evolution of the Rainforests. 2009, US $4,000
Evolving Earth Student Grant. New Fossil Collections from the Paleocene of Colombia: Implications for the Paleoclimate and the Evolution of the Rainforests. 2009, US $3,000
Banco de la República grant. El primer registro fósil de un bosque húmedo tropical? paleoclima y paleodiversidad. April 2005, US $6,800 (shared).
Asociación Colombiana de Geólogos y Geofísicos del Petróleo ACGGP, Grant, Proyecto: Paleoclima del Paleoceno Superior en zonas tropicales usando plantas megafósiles de la Formación Cerrejón. April 2004, US $500
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Project: An Ancient Tropical Rainforest and Its Implications for Global Climate. May 1, 2004, US $4,942 (shared).
Youth Activity Fund, The Explorers Club Grant. Project: Solving the Cool Tropical Paradox. May 19, 2004, US $1,500
Promoción de Jóvenes Investigadores Grant, Corporación Geológica ARES, Proyecto: Paleoclima del Paleoceno Superior en zonas tropicales usando plantas megafósiles de la Formación Cerrejón. February 2004, US $300
Special Recognitions
Thesis of the year, 2004. Asociación Colombiana de Geólogos y Geofísicos del Petróleo ACGGP / Corporación Geológica ARES, Bogotá Abril 1 de 2004
Certificate of Academic Excellence, College of liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Fall 2006.
Certificate of Academic Excellence, College of liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Spring 2007.