Elizabeth (Lizzie) Schulz
- Email: wccq1608@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: The 'great Tree of Life': Darwinism, Evolution, and the Evolutionary Tree
- Supervisors: Professor Gregory Radick, Professor Jonathan Topham
Profile
My PhD research here at Leeds, which began in 2024, focuses on the “evolutionary tree” in the late twetieth and early twenty-first centuries. I am specifically interested in the extent to which the “evolutionary tree” is related to Darwin and Darwinism, how that relationship changes over time, and how the relationship frames evolutionary theory today.
This research was inspired by my interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in English Literature and Cell/Molecular Biology. Finding the intersection between these two fields is what led me to the “evolutionary tree,” first as a metaphor, but now also a scientific visual and technical model.
From October 2025 onwards, the project is funded by the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities (WRoCAH).
Research interests
- History and philosophy of the evolutionary tree
- History and philosophy of biology
- History of Darwinism
- Scientific imagery and visual culture
Qualifications
- MSc History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, University of Oxford
- BA&Sc English Literature and Cell/Molecular Biology, McGill University
Research groups and institutes
- Centre for History and Philosophy of Science
- Digital Cultures