Emily Rayfield is a British palaeontologist, who is a Professor in Palaeobiology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.
[1] Her research focuses on the functional anatomy of extinct vertebrates, especially dinosaurs, using computational methods such as finite element analysis (FEA).
In the landmark paper Rayfield et al. (2001),[2] the skull of the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus was analysed using FEA in order to quantitatively assess different feeding hypotheses.
This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology (in collaboration with CT scanning), and spurred interest in using CT-scanned skull FEA on feeding biomechanics in zoology and palaeontology.
[3] In addition, she helped elucidate the cranial biomechanics of the noted carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus using two-dimensional FEA.