Late Triassic Konservat-Lagerstätten within the Carnian Pluvial Episode 150 Years of Scientific Excavations in Austria

Priv. Doz. Dr. Mag. Alexander Lukeneder - born in 1972 in Steyr, Austria, is a leading Austrian paleontologist and geoscientist. He studied Earth Sciences and Paleontology in Vienna and has been a scientist and curator at the Natural History Museum Vienna since 2004, specializing in Mesozoic collections. In 2016, he earned his habilitation in paleontology at the University of Vienna, where he also lectures.

He has led multiple FWF-funded research projects on the Mesozoic era, including the discovery of Austria's first Pliosaur in 2019 and recent studies on the latest Cretaceous Austrian ichthyosaurs. As a prolific author, he has published over 180 scientific and popular articles and several books, including Abenteuer Dolomiten, Akte Dinosaurier, Wandern in die Welt der Dinos, and UNESCO Global Geopark Steirische Eisenwurzen. He is also an active science communicator, giving hundreds of talks and leading outreach programs, such as the Fossilfinder Project with an innovative app launched in 2020.

Since 2019, Dr. Lukeneder has served as a scientific advisor to the Styrian Eisenwurzen UNESCO Geopark. Currently, he is leading a collaborative research project on the global Carnian Crisis (~235 million years ago), funded by the Federal Government of Lower Austria, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Society of Friends of the Natural History Museum Vienna. He is a member of the scientific editorial teams of Scientific Reports, Papers in Palaeontology, Palaeontology, and Historical Biology.