Kirstin is currently Assistant Professor of Palaeontology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Manitoba.
She is a vertebrate palaeontologist interested in the evolution and development of teeth and bones, specifically tissue structure and growth rates, and the relationship between structure, growth, and animal ecology. Her research involves the use of living animal models to understand how extinct animals grew and interacted with their environment. She has worked with living reptiles (e.g. leopard geckos and green anoles), and fossils of non-mammalian synapsids (e.g., Dimetrodon), dinosaurs (e.g. Tyrannosaurus rex and Hypacrosaurus stebingeri), plants (Cunninghamia hornbyensis), and trackways (Ichniotherium). She uses histology, microscopy, Computed Tomography (CT scans), Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy to address her research.
Kirstin Brink will connect the palaeontological resources at the CFDC with the students, researchers, and educational resources at the University of Manitoba.