Hi. I'm

Dr. Jood
Al Aswad.

The ocean's past is a warning we haven't finished reading.

Earth's oceans have faced catastrophe before.

I'm a quantitative paleobiologist, and I track how environmental change reshapes ocean life and biodiversity across space and time. My work is interdisciplinary: I blend physiology, geology, Earth system modeling, oceanography, and data science to understand the tipping points between extinction and endurance.

To my knowledge, I am the first female Saudi paleontologist. That's why I like to dedicate some of my time in outreach within biology and paleontology and in my teaching, so that everyone feels like they belong!

See my research Get in touch
Dr. Jood Al Aswad

Postdoctoral Fellow

Virginia Tech · Dr. Pedro Monarrez Lab

Dr. Jood Al Aswad
The Researcher

Scientist, data thinker,
storyteller.

Who is Dr. Jood?

I study how ocean life survives Earth's worst catastrophes

For my postdoc, I use statistical modeling alongside Late Pleistocene and Holocene fossils to reconstruct what ocean communities looked like before humans started degrading them.

Many marine ecosystems were already unrecognizable by the time modern ecology arrived to study them. The fossil record is how we recover that baseline.

I also draw digitally and with charcoal, and I'm writing a high fantasy novel woven through with biology and geology. I build fantasy worlds out of the same material I study: deep time, ocean life, and what survives!

Education & Training

A path through
the deep time sciences.

Now
Postdoctoral Fellow Virginia Tech · Dr. Pedro Monarrez's Lab. Coral reefs, metabolic index, invasive species, and quantitative ecology.
2025
Ph.D. Geological Sciences (Paleobiology) Stanford University · Dr. Jonathan Payne. Linking biogeographic patterns in deep time to extinction, physiology, and climate change. Winifred Goldring Award · Stanford Centennial TA Award
2019
M.S. Geological Sciences Cornell University · Dr. Terry Jordan. Stratigraphy, petrophysics & geothermal systems. Harriet Benson Research Fellowship Award
2016
B.S. Earth Science George Mason University · Dr. Linda Hinnov. Geodesy and Earth tides.

My Ph.D. defense flyer, illustrated by me.

One of my goals is student outreach within paleontology, so that everyone feels like they belong.

Explore my research View publications