Campus
- Downtown Toronto (St. George)
Fields of Study
- Geobiology
Areas of Interest
Biological aspects of conodont function and apparatus structure in Carboniferous conodonts.
Conodont biostratigraphy and multielement taxonomy of Lower Carboniferous marine rocks of Atlantic Canada and of Upper Carboniferous marine rocks of the American Midcontinent.
Fossil vent communities and chemosynthesis in the geological record
In the late 1980s von Bitter recognized in the Lower Carboniferous of western Newfoundland what are probably the best preserved fossil vent communities known. He and his collaborators have subsequently found these biological communities in the Lower Carboniferous deposits of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Lower Carboniferous palaeoenvironments and stratigraphy of the Windsor and Codroy groups of Atlantic Canada.
Lithic resources of the Palaeoindians of Ontario; the stratigraphy, petrography and palynology of these resources.
Other interests:
History of geology, particularly early Canadian geologists, palaeontologists and mineralogists.
Scientific instruments, their development, manufacture, and use, especially in Canada.
Peter von Bitter’s current research involves collaboration with Drs. G.K. Merrill and Penny Morris-Smith (University of Houston-Downtown), P.E. Schenk (Dalhousie), M.A. Purnell (Leicester), P.L.Storck (ROM) and R. Norby (Illinois State Geological Survey) among others. He has supervised 4 M.Sc. theses and was a committee member for 4 M.Sc. and 4 Ph.D. candidates. Post-doctoral Fellow, Dr. Mark Purnell worked with him on Carboniferous conodont research, 1990-1992.
Professional Affiliations:
Fellow, Geological Association of Canada
Member, Paleontological Society
Member, International Palaeontological Association
Member, Pander Society
Member, Scientific Instrument Society