Rocking it: geology alum has meteoric success

04/30/2024

When most kids his age still wanted to be high-flying superheroes, Cooper Malanoski '19 already knew his true calling was more grounded, focused on the fossils and rocks he avidly collected.

That lifelong love of geology has now let the Oxford University Ph.D. student direct research that could predict which animals are most threatened with extinction by global climate change.

The 26-year-old alum Malanoski is the lead author of "Climate change is an important predictor of extinction on macroevolutionary timescales," a paper published this March in the highly respected academic journal Science.

"Reconstructing climate over 485 million years is no easy task, so I anticipated that this is something that I could attempt later on in my career," Malanoski said. "Thankfully, my advisor introduced me to researchers that were interested in working together to bring my idea to fruition."

During the project he was the lead author and researcher in the group responsible for running data analysis. As a team, they needed combined expertise in climate modelling, paleontology, geology, programming and statistics.

"Cooper's achievement of publishing a paper in the prestigious journal Scienceas a doctoral student serving as the first author is truly remarkable," said Li Jin, professor in SUNY Cortland's Geology Department and coordinator of the Environmental Science Program.

Jin added that in his time at Cortland, Malanoski maintained a 4.03 GPA while staying active in research projects with Distinguished Professor Christopher McRoberts and Distinguished Teaching Professor Robert Darling of the Geology Department.

A graphic provided by Malanoski that shows differences in a pre- and post-extinction environment. Credit to Maija Karala.

That broad experience in and out of the classroom at Cortland can give students an extra boost toward successful careers in geology and environmental geoscience, Jin said.

The history of Earth and its life has always been interesting to Malanoski. When he was 4, Malanoski's mother took him with her to a geology course at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, N.Y.

"The professor and students showed me the rocks, minerals and fossils and taught me about geology, and my passion for geology grew from that point onwards," he said.

"I then began hunting for fossils and collecting minerals for most of my life. So, I always knew that I wanted to pursue a career in geology - and had Cortland in mind as one of the top universities to pursue my goals."

Malanoski began at SUNY Cortland in 2016, graduating in three years before going to Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

"Cortland prepared me very well for this transition to Baylor," Malanoski said. "The excellent geology courses and research experiencethat I had at Cortland allowed me to hit the ground running at Baylor, and I was able to get a 4.0 and do some exciting research."

After Baylor, Malanoski earned a Clarendon Fellowship - given to distinguished grad students - at Oxford. Although he is earning a Ph.D. at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, he credits the education he gained while in Central New York.

"Ultimately, a big reason for my success so far has been a result of the excellent foundational knowledge that I gained while studying at Cortland, and I truly believe that the undergraduate program at Cortland is comparable, and of a similar standard, to Baylor and Oxford."

Malanoski said he was surprised he had the chance to pursue such a large project within the three-year constraint of his Ph.D. studies at Oxford; especially since it began as a research proposal Malanoski detailed in his application to Oxford.

Research for the paper used fossils and geologic data on climate change over hundreds of millions of years to gain insight on how climate changes lead to mass extinctions and predict what species are most at risk in today's warming world.

The chance to use the geologic past to inform the present is not only fascinating, but practical, he noted. Old fossils can aid current understanding of long-term natural processes like extinction and give insight into reducing the effects of climate change.

"It has been great to have the experience creating and organizing such a large-scale project," Malanoski said. "Collaboration is such a pivotal part of science, so it is invaluable to have the opportunity to build my collaborative network early on in my career."

Now, Malanoski is excited about what may come next. After a final year at Oxford, he will apply for post-doctoral positions in the United Kingdom, Germany, China and California.

He hopes to eventually become a professor himself and inspire the same love of geology in students that's captivated him his whole life.

"Ultimately, I wish to pursue a career in academia, and hope that I could one day teach at a university in New York like Cortland," Malanoski said. "I really enjoy teaching and outreach, so I think being a professor at a primarily undergraduate university like Cortland would provide a great opportunity to inspire students to pursue a degree in geology."

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