Dr Peter Richard Sheldon

I have had the pleasure of teaching over 80 residential courses in geology, palaeontology and evolution for University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education since 1979. I’ve also taught for the Cambridge International Summer Programme since 2016 and for the Diploma in Evolutionary Biology from 2017 to 2023. For Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education, I have given over 60 day-schools since 1993, and from 2008-2011 was their External Examiner for Scientific Studies. I am an Honorary Associate in the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Open University, where I was a Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences for many years.

Geology and the wonderful history of life has been a passion ever since finding my first fossil at the age of five. My teaching style usually combines interactive lectures with hands-on study of real specimens of rocks, minerals and fossils, and fieldwork when possible. I chaired the Open University course on Geology and contributed to many other OU courses, including Fossils and the History of Life, Evolution, Earth’s Physical Resources, Discovering Science, The Geological History of the British Isles and Earth Science. I have published internationally acclaimed research on evolutionary patterns in the fossil record and the relationship between evolution and environmental change.