Dr Phil Manning heads the Palaeontology Research Group in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (SEAES) at the University of Manchester. Dr Manning is also a Research Fellow at the Manchester Museum and a Research Associate at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Colorado, USA).

His research includes international collaboration with projects in Europe, New Zealand and North America. Research partners include Yale (New Haven, USA), Stanford University (Stanford Linear Accelerator, USA), The Black Hills Institute (Hill City, USA), University of Oregon (Eugene, USA), Denver Museum of Natural History (Denver, USA), Amherst College (Amherst, USA), University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA), Marmarth Research Foundation (Marmarth, USA), The Mammoth Site (Hot Springs, USA), American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), The Natural History Museum (London), University of Cambridge (Earth Sciences), University of Liverpool (Earth and Ocean Sciences), Manchester Metropolitan University (Environmental and Geographical Sciences) and the Dinosaur Isle Museum (Isle of Wight). Research successes of the group have attracted worldwide attention and as a result members have been invited to travel to give presentations spanning the globe from New York to Patagonia.

By approaching vertebrate and invertebrate palaeontology from a multidisciplinary approach we have been able to develop new, and adapt existing techniques, in the analysis of vertebrate locomotion, biomechanics, palaeobiology, proteomics and musculoskeletal form & function in extinct vertebrates. Dr Manning's primary research interests include: vertebrate ichnology, vertebrate biomechanics, locomotion and finite element modelling, palaeopathology, arthropod palaeoecology, structural biomaterials, biomolecules in the fossil record, dinosaur taphonomy and soft-tissue preservation.

The palaeontology research group spans several University departments and faculties at Manchester and works in collaboration with individuals and research groups both nationally and internationally. The focus for research at Manchester is to develop a specialist group that integrates disciplines to solve key questions in the palaeobiology and locomotion of extinct vertebrates. Whilst quite diverse, the current research themes all contribute towards this aim.

Professors, Writing, National geographic, Paleontology