F. Robin O'Keefe
Department of Biological Sciences
Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia
USA

Robin O'Keefe is a professor of biology at Marshall University, a primarily undergraduate institution in sylvan Huntington, WV. Robin received his undergraduate degree at Stanford and his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. His main research is the influence of biotic and abiotic factors influencing body shape in various organisms. His thesis research concerned the Plesiosauria, a clade of extinct sauropterygian diapsids. Most of his field work has concerned this clade, particularly the Sundance Plesiosaur project. Field work in Niger in 2003 led to publications on captorhinid postcranial anatomy and the ossification of the amniote astragalus. Current research concerns the completion of publication of Sundance plesiosaur material, inception of a new plesiosaur field program, and publication of research on Pleistocene and recent canids. While disparate, this last research topic reflects Robin's interest in shape change under the influence of external forcing factors. Robin is also and active and committed undergraduate teacher in accord with Marshall's mission; he is responsible for a large course in human anatomy for pre-nursing students, and an upper-division class in comparative vertebrate anatomy.