Paulyn Cartwright

Paulyn Cartwright is the Baumgartner Professor of Biology at the University of Kansas. She is known for her research on the evolution and development of jellyfish.

Education and career Cartwright received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990. She earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1997.

Research Cartwright is known for her research on the evolution of jellyfish, particularly cnidarians. Her early work examined Hox genes in the horseshoe crab and in hydroids. Her subsequent research examined myxozoa, or aquatic parasites related to cnidarians, and the evolution of cnidarians. In 2007, Cartwright led a research project that found fossils of jellyfish that date to the Middle Cambrian period.

Photograph of a Middle Cambrian cnidarian jellyfish from Cartwright et al. (2007) published manuscript.

Selected publications

Honors and awards In 2025 Cartwright was named a Whitman Fellow by the Marine Biological Laboratory.