He holds a B.S. from the University of Chicago and obtained an M.S. and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Finnegan’s research integrates data from a variety of sources including field observations, lab work, and literature databases to study the nature of organism-environment interactions through time. He investigates patterns of extinction selectivity, environmental proxies, and methods to reconstruct the structure and function of marine ecosystems through time, with a recent focus on the Ordovician Period (488 to 444 million years ago).