Dr. Margaret (Peg) M. Yacobucci

Education & Experience:

Professor, School of Earth, Environment & Society, Bowling Green State University (2015-present)
Associate Professor, Department of Geology, Bowling Green State University (2005-2015)
Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Bowling Green State University (1999-2005)
Ph.D., Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1999)
A.B., Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (1991)

Specialty Areas of Interest:

Paleobiology of fossil cephalopods
Phylogenetic and morphometric analyses
Use of geospatial approaches in paleobiology
Innovative K-16 geoscience education
Equity and inclusion in STEM

Honors and Awards:

Professor of Service Excellence (2024-)
Fellow of the Paleontological Society (2020)
BGSU Faculty Senate Distinguished Service Award (2020)
BGSU Women of Distinction Award (2016)

Educational Outreach:

Profile for “Daring to Dig: Women in American Paleontology” virtual exhibit by the Museum of the Earth, Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY: https://www.museumoftheearth.org/daring-to-dig/bio/yacobucci

“Girl Power: Meet a STEM Professional” by Imagination Station Toledo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y16WHxv9y8

Current BGSU Courses:

Life Through Time - Undergraduate
The Geologic History of Dinosaurs - Undergraduate
Paleontology - Undergraduate/Graduate
Vertebrate Paleontology - Undergraduate/Graduate
Quantitative Paleontology - Graduate

Service Activities:

Academic Advisor / Faculty Mentor for Undergraduate Paleobiology Specialization
Advisor for Geology Club and Sigma Gamma Epsilon
Associate Editor, Journal of Paleontology
This IS PS (Inclusive and Safe) Liaison, Paleontological Society
RISE (Respectful, Inclusive Scientific Events) Liaison, Geological Society of America

Current and Recent Grants:

Co-PI, Collaborative Research: Associations between Climate Shifts and Ammonoid Turnover across Second-Tier Extinctions during the Early Late Cretaceous Greenhouse (NSF Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology project, Award No. 2129629, 2022-2026)

Lead PI and Project Director, BGSU ALLIES: Building Inclusive Leadership Practices and Policies to Transform the Institution (NSF ADVANCE-Adaptation project, Award No.1760389, 2018-2024)

Recent Research Projects:

Paleobiogeography and diversity dynamics of Cretaceous cephalopods
PK-16 geoscience and paleontology education
Overcoming barriers to career advancement for women faculty in STEM

Recent Peer Reviewed Publications and Submissions:

(* denotes BGSU student co-author)

Prothero, D.R., Ivany, L.C.,  Kelley, P.H., Yacobucci, M.M., and Lieberman, B.S. 2025. Punctuated equilibria at 50: half a century of stasis, cladogenesis, and macroevolutionary insights. Paleobiology 51: 589-598. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2025.10067.

Yacobucci, M.M., Schopf, K.M., and Goldsmith, D.W. 2025. Taking the temperature of punctuated equilibrium on its semicentennial. Paleobiology 51: 614-630. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2025.10055.

Ro, H.K., Broido, E.M., Campbell-Jacobs, B., Hanasono, L.K., Yacobucci, M.M., and Root, K.V. 2024. Development of a faculty transformative ally behavior scale. ADVANCE Journal 4(2): Article 6. https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/ADVJRNL.4.2.6.

Ro, H.K., Campbell-Jacobs, B., Broido, E., Hanasono, L., O’Neil, D., Yacobucci, M.M., and Root, K. 2023. Faculty allyship: Differences by gender, race, and rank at a single U.S. university. Gender, Work, and Organization 2023: 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12988.

Hanasono, L.K., Ro, H.K., O’Neil, D., Broido, E.M., Yacobucci, M.M., Peña, S., and Root, K.V. 2022. Communicating privilege and faculty allyship. Communication Quarterly 70: 560-584. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2022.2099294.

*Senevirathne, C.K., Simic Milas, A., Liu, G., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2022. Effects of increasing C4-crop cover and stomatal conductance on evapotranspiration: simulations for a Lake Erie watershed. Remote Sensing 14: 1914. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14081914.

Peterman, D.J., Hebdon, N., Ciampaglio, C.N., Yacobucci, M.M., Landman, N.H., and Linn, T. 2020. Syn vivo hydrostatic and hydrodynamic properties of scaphitid ammonoids from the U.S. Western Interior. GeoBios 60: 79-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2020.04.004.

Peterman, D.J., Shell, R., Ciampaglio, C., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2020. Stable hooks: biomechanics of heteromorph ammonoids with U-shaped body chambers. Journal of Molluscan Studies 86: 267-279. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyaa018.

Peterman, D.J., Yacobucci, M.M., Larson, N.L., Ciampaglio, C., and Linn, T. 2020. A method to the madness: Ontogenetic changes in the hydrostatic properties of Didymoceras (Nostoceratidae, Ammonoidea). Paleobiology 46(2): 237-258. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2020.14.

Hanasono, L.K., Broido, E.M., Yacobucci, M.M., Root, K.V., Peña, S., and O’Neil, D.A. 2019. Secret service: Revealing gender biases in the visibility and value of faculty service. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 12: 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000081.

Hanasono, L.K., Matuga, J.M., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2019. Breaking the bamboo and glass ceilings: Challenges and opportunities for Asian and Asian American women faculty leaders. Chapter in Chao, Chin-Chung, and Ha, Louisa (eds.) Asian Women Leadership: A Cross-National and Cross-Sector Comparison. Taylor & Francis Routledge.

Peterman, D., Barton, C.C., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2019. The hydrostatics of Paleozoic ectocochleate cephalopods (Nautiloidea and Endoceratoidea) with implications for modes of life and early colonization of the pelagic zone. Palaeontologia Electronica 22.2.24A: 1-29. https://doi.org/10.26879/884.

Peterman, D.J., Ciampaglio, C.N., Shell, R.C., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2019. Mode of life and hydrostatic stability of orthoconic ectocochleate cephalopods: Hydrodynamic analyses of restoring moments from 3D-printed, neutrally buoyant models (Editors’ choice). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 64. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00595.2019.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2018. Confronting prior conceptions in paleontology courses. Pedagogy and Technology in the Modern Paleontology Classroom. Paleontological Society Short Course Volume; Elements of Paleontology. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108681391.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2018. Postmortem transport in fossil and modern shelled cephalopods. PeerJ6: e5909. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5909.

*Gaetano, T.M., Yacobucci, M.M., and Bingman, V.P. 2017. On the paleontology of animal cognition: Using the brain dimensions of modern birds to characterize maniraptor cognition. Journal of Advanced Neuroscience Research, Special Issue, May-2017: 12-19. https://doi.org/10.15379/2409-3564.2017.03.

*Lockshin, S., Yacobucci, M.M., Gorsevski, P., and Gregory, A. 2017. Spatial characterization of Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway paleoceanography using foraminifera, fuzzy sets, and Dempster-Shafer theory. GeoResJ 14: 98-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.grj.2017.10.001.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2017. Marine life in a greenhouse world: Cephalopod biodiversity and biogeography during the early Late Cretaceous. Paleobiology 43(4): 587-619. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2017.3.

*Liu, X., Gorsevski, P.V., Yacobucci, M.M., and Onasch, C.M. 2016. A web-based multicriteria evaluation of spatial trade-offs between environmental and economic implications from hydraulic fracturing in a shale gas region in Ohio. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 188: 376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5362-8.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2016. Towards a model for speciation in ammonoids. Pp. 238-277 in: W.D. Allmon and M.M. Yacobucci (eds.). Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

De Baets, K., Bert, D., Hoffmann, R., Monnet, C., Yacobucci, M.M., and Klug, C. 2015. Ammonoid intraspecific variability.  In: C. Klug, D. Korn, K. De Baets, I. Kruta, and R.H. Mapes (eds.). Ammonoid Paleobiology: From Anatomy to Ecology. Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 43. Dordrecht, Springer.

Monnet, C., De Baets, K., Yacobucci, M.M. 2015. Buckman’s rules of covariation. Pp. 67-94 in: C. Klug, D. Korn, K. De Baets, I. Kruta, and R.H. Mapes (eds.). Ammonoid Paleobiology: From Macroevolution to Paleogeography. Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 44. Dordrecht, Springer.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2015. Macroevolution and paleobiogeography of Jurassic-Cretaceous ammonoids. Pp. 189-228 in: Christian Klug, Dieter Korn, Kenneth De Baets, Isabelle Kruta, and Royal H. Mapes (eds.). Ammonoid Paleobiology: From Macroevolution to Paleogeography. Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 44. Dordrecht, Springer.

Bardin, J., Rouget, I., Yacobucci, M.M., and Cecca, F. 2014. Increasing the number of discrete character states for continuous characters generates well-resolved trees that do not reflect phylogeny. Integrative Zoology 9(4):531-541. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12076.

*Knauss, M.J., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2014. Geographic information systems technology as a morphometric tool for quantifying morphological variability in an ammonoid clade. Palaeontologia Electronica 17.1.19A. http://doi.org/10.26879/418.

Landman, N.H., Goolaerts, S., Jagt, J.W.M., Jagt-Yazykova, E.A., Machalski, M., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2014. Ammonite extinction and nautilid survival at the end of the Cretaceous. Geology 42(8): 707-710. https://doi.org/10.1130/G35776.1.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2013. Integrating critical thinking about values into an introductory geology course. Journal of Geoscience Education 61(4): 351-363.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2012. Meta-analysis of character utility and phylogenetic information content in cladistic studies of ammonoids. Geobios 45(1): 139-143.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2012. Using active learning strategies to promote deep learning in the undergraduate paleontology classroom.  Pp. 135-153 in: M.M. Yacobucci and R. Lockwood (eds.). Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century. Paleontological Society Special Publications, Vol. 12.

Recent Edited Volumes

Allmon, W.D., and Yacobucci, M.M. (eds.) 2016. Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Yacobucci, M.M., and Lockwood, R. (eds.) 2012. Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century. Paleontological Society Special Publications, Vol. 12.

Recent Conference Presentations

* student co-author, presenter(s) underlined for multi-authored presentations

*Uycoque, A., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2025. Biogeographical response of Late Cretaceous ammonites during Ocean Anoxic Event 3 subevents. 2025 GSA Connects, San Antonio, Texas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-10879.

Yacobucci, M.M., *Layton, K., and *Walty, K. 2025. The challenges and possibilities of homoplasy in cephalopod phylogenetics. 2025 GSA Connects, San Antonio, Texas. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9062.

*Howard, L., Wagner, P.J., *Layton, K., *Walty, K., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2025. Cephalopod disparity over OAE2. Northeastern/North-Central Geological Society of America Meeting, Erie, Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(3). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025NE-409032. 

*Klaus, B., Lepre, C., and Yacobucci, M. 2025. Comparison of Late Paleozoic Ice Age tetrapods, paleoenvironment, and preservation between eastern and western Pangea. Northeastern/North-Central Geological Society of America Meeting, Erie, Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(3). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025NE-408661.

*Smith, S., and Yacobucci, M., 2025. Geologic age and isotopic analysis of a young mastodon from northwest Ohio. Northeastern/North-Central Geological Society of America Meeting, Erie, Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(3). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025NE-408023. 

*Smith, T., Yacobucci, M., and Devault, N. 2025. Paleoecology of the Pecatonica and McGregor Members of the Platteville Formation, eastern Dane County, Wisconsin. Northeastern/North-Central Geological Society of America Meeting, Erie, Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(3). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025NE-408056.

*Howard, L., *Layton, K., *Walty, K., Wagner, P.J., and Yacobucci, M. 2025. Varying modes of speciation in Cretaceous ammonoid clades. Northeastern/North-Central Geological Society of America Meeting, Erie, Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 57(3). doi: 10.1130/abs/2025NE-408397.

*Klaus, B., Lepre, C.J., Yazzie, O.M., Yacobucci, M.M., and Simic Milas, A. 2024. Addressing the paucity of Carboniferous-Permian land vertebrate fossils in the Appalachian Basin outcrops from Coolville, Ohio, USA. American Geophysical Union 2024 Annual Meeting.

*Yazzie, O.M., Lepre, C.J., Klaus, B.R., Yacobucci, M.M., Panter, K.S., Olsen, P.E., and Kent, D.V. 2024. Rock magnetic record of Late Triassic environmental change in the Chinle Basin (Petrified Forest National Park, AZ): implications for sedimentological, ecological, and fluvial processes. American Geophysical Union 2024 Annual Meeting.

*Howard, L.N., *Walty, K.A., *Layton, K., Yacobucci, M.M., and Wagner, P.J. 2024. Comparing models of character evolution in Late Cretaceous ammonoids using a Bayesian phylogenetic approach. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 56(5). doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-405103.

*Layton, K., Yacobucci, M.M., and Wagner, P.J. 2024. Baculitid phylogenetic reconstruction from a Bayesian perspective. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 56(5). doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-404596.

*Walty, K.A., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2024. Turnover in the ammonoid superfamily Desmoceratoidea due to Ocean Anoxic Event 2: Comparison of Bayesian and parsimony-based phylogenetic methods. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 56(5). doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-404838.

*Walty, K.A., *Layton, K., *Howard, L., Yacobucci, M.M., and Wagner, P. 2024. Contrasting diversification patterns implied by fossilized birth-death analyses among three ammonoid clades over the Late Cretaceous. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 56(5). doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-405449.

*Walty, K.A., Yacobucci, M.M., Wagner, P., and Howard, L. 2024. Deciphering Desmoceratoidea (Ammonoidea) turnover rates during Cenomanian-Turonian Ocean Anoxic Event 2 using Bayesian and parsimony-based phylogenetic approaches. 12th North American Paleontological Convention, June 17-21, 2024.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2024. Paleontology at Bowling Green State University: Collecting, researching, and teaching about the ancient life of the Great Lakes region. 12th North American Paleontological Convention, June 17-21, 2024.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2024. Sustaining equity efforts for the long term. ARC Network Equity in STEM Community Convening, June 2-5, 2024.

*Soto, G.E., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2023. Analyzing Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopod suture pattern complexity using AutoCAD software. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 55(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2023AM-393335.

*Walty, K.A., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2023. Westermann morphospace analysis of the Cretaceous ammonoid superfamily Desmoceratoidea. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 55(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2023AM-392985.

Witts, J., Yacobucci, M.M., Myers, C., and Linzmeier, B.J. 2023. Friend to the Cephalopods: Honoring Neil Landman’s Contributions to Cephalopod Paleobiology. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 55(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2023AM-395961.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2022. BGSU ALLIES: Bringing allies and inclusive leaders together for collaborative systemic change. Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences, November 2022, Washington, DC, United States.

Yacobucci, M.M., Schopf, K.M., and Goldsmith, D.W. 2022. Perceptions of punctuated equilibrium: Survey results and guidance for teaching and learning. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 2022, Denver, CO, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 55(5) doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-382254.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2022. Species distribution modeling and ecomorphology of ammonoids during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (Late Cretaceous). 11th International Symposium, Cephalopods Present and Past, September 2022, London, United Kingdom.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2022. Equity impact assessments for university policies. ARC Network Equity in STEM Community Convening, May 31-June 4, 2022, Washington, DC, United States.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2022.BGSU ALLIES: Bringing allies and inclusive leaders together for collaborative systemic change. ARC Network Equity in STEM Community Convening, May 31-June 4, 2022, Washington, DC, United States.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2022. From individual allyship to collective action for gender equity: Transforming geoscience culture. Joint North-Central and Southeast Geological Society of America meeting, April 2022, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 54(4). doi: 10.1130/abs/2022NC-374481.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2021. Everybody in the pool: Supporting career success for women in paleontology. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 2021, Portland, OR, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 53(6) doi: 10.1130/abs/2021AM-364718.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2020. Species distribution modeling of Western Interior ammonoids during Ocean Anoxic Event 2. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 2020, virtual conference. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 52(6) doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-355164.

Bilimoria, D., Singer, L.T., Burton, H., Yacobucci, M.M. (co-presenter), Gonzalez, C., Bracken, C.M., and Johnson, T. 2019. Customizing gender equity transformation to institutional needs. ARC Network Equity in STEM Community Convening, October 2019, Cleveland, OH, United States.

Broido, E.M., Campbell-Jacobs, B., Hanasono, L., Kunk-Czaplicki, J., Ro, H.K., Roberts, S.J., and Yacobucci, M.M. (co-presenter) 2019. Constructing and catalyzing change: Building a sustainable faculty allyship program. ARC Network Equity in STEM Community Convening, October 2019, Cleveland, OH, United States.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2019. Crafting an inclusive paleontology classroom. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, September 2019, Phoenix, AZ, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 51(5) doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-334698.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2019. What ammonoid cephalopods tell us about biodiversity dynamics on a changing Earth. World Congress of Malacology, August 2019, Pacific Grove, CA, United States.

Yacobucci, M.M., and *Lockshin, S.N. 2019. Controls on cephalopod survivorship through Ocean Anoxic Event 2 within the Cenomanian-Turonian Western Interior Seaway. 11^th North American Paleontological Convention, June 2019, Riverside, CA, United States.

Yacobucci, M.M., and *Lockshin, S.N. 2019. Drivers of cephalopod biodiversity during a critical interval of Earth history. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, September 2019, Phoenix, AZ, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs51(5) doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-334975.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2018. Cephalopods in a greenhouse: Diversification and extinction in response to environmental perturbations in the early Late Cretaceous. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, November 2018, Indianapolis, IN, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 50(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-318182.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2018. Geographic range size of cephalopod species predicts survivorship during the Cenomanian-Turonian interval of the early Late Cretaceous. 10th International Symposium, Cephalopods Present and Past, March 2018, Fes, Morocco.

Yacobucci, M.M. 2017. Revisiting the notion of postmortem drift in fossil cephalopods. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 2017, Seattle, WA, United  States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 49(6). doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM- 296879

Hanasono, L.K., Broido, E., Yacobucci, M.M. (co-presenter), Root, K., Peña, S., and O’Neil, D. 2016. Secret service: Revealing gender biases in the visibility and value of faculty service in the higher education landscape. Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, November 2016, Columbus, OH, United States.

*Walters, D.G., and Yacobucci, M.M. 2016. Geospatial analysis of ecological associations and successions in Middle Devonian bioherms of the Great Lakes region. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, September 2016, Denver, CO, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 48(7), doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-284946.

Hanasono, L.K., Yacobucci, M.M., Broido, E., Peña, S., Roberts, S.J., and Root, K.V. 2015. The SPIRAL Project: Supporting Progress in Rebalancing Academic Life. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, November 2015, Baltimore, MD, United States. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 47(7): 686.