PALEONTOLOGY SYMPOSIUM
Saturday, July 9
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
FREE ADMISSION | LUNCH INCLUDED
Find out what’s being discovered by leading paleontologists right here in the Big Horn Basin!
Morning Sessions:When Some Liked it Hot: UW Research on Wyoming's Ancient Ecosystems from Microbes to Mammals
Mark Clementz, Head, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Wyoming READING THE ROCKS A River Runs Through It: Reconstructing The Ancient Bighorn Basin – Brady Foreman, Western Washington University True Grit: The Story In Fossil Soils – Gabe Bowen, University of Utah Tales From The Swamps – Scott Wing, Smithsonian Institution Afternoon Sessions: ALL FOSSILS GREAT AND SMALL
Gators In Your Backyard: What Fossils Tell Us About Changes In Wyoming's Past – Natasha Vitek, Stony Brook University The Secret Life Of Fossil Pollen – Vera Korasidis, University of Melbourne Fossil Bug Bites Tell Who Ate What, And How Much – Ellen Currano, University of Wyoming Ancient Wyoming: Why the Bighorn Basin is the Best Place to Tell the Story of Earth History Kirk Johnson, Sant Director, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Poster Presentations open throughout the day |
Pre-registration
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MEET THE PALEONTOLOGY SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS
Dr. Mark T. Clemenz, Head, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming
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Dr. Clemenz studies the paleoecology of shallow marine and coastal ecosystems, specifically the role vertebrates have played within these ecosystems. He also studies paleobiology and how the development of new traits allowed organisms to adapt to new environments. His current research focuses on analyzing the microwear patterns on tooth enamel to understand the dietary preferences of extinct animals.
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Dr. Brady Z. Foreman, Department of Geology, Western Washington University
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Dr. Foreman is a sedimentary geologist who studies how fluvial systems of the Rocky Mountain region responded to tectonic uplift and paleoclimatic change during the Mesozoic an early Cenozoic eras. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming and has done fieldwork in the Bighorn Basin for the past 15 years.
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Dr. Gabe Bowen, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah
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Dr. Bowen founded the University of Utah’s Spatio-Temporal Isotope Analytics Lab (SPATIAL) group, which focuses on mobile and high throughput laser spectroscopy for environmental isotope analysis. His research interests span the fields of biology and geology, but primarily focus on humankind’s impact on, and relationships with, Earth’s environment. Together with the SPATIAL group he seeks to understand natural environmental change, through the study of the geologic record, as a baseline for human-induced changes, and to observe and model the current state of environmental change.
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Dr. Scott Wing, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution
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Dr. Wing studies fossil plants and climate change between approximately 70 and 40 million years ago, during the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. He is also interested in the evolution of flowering plants during the warm climate which existed at this time and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) which provides an analog in the earth’s history to the human-induced climate change happening today.
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Dr. Natasha Vitek, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University
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Dr. Vitek is a vertebrate paleontologist focused on understanding what the fossil record can tell us about the long term importance of differences between individuals. Her Ph.D. research used statistical methods to trace species through the climate change of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) as preserved in the Bighorn Basin. She currently works to integrate modern studies of small-scale evolution with the fossil record to study big-picture consequences of small processes on long time scales.
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Dr. Vera A. Korasidis, Department of Geography, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne
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Dr. Korasidis is a paleontologist, who uses palynology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and a range of geochemical techniques to investigate changing Earth systems from the Early Cretaceous through the Middle Miocene. Her research on fossil pollen has provided new insights into plant responses to climate change and has demonstrated that an increase in the concentration of atmospheric CO2 played a major role in shifting Earth’s climate and plant life during the Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).
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Dr. Ellen Currano, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming
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Dr. Currano is a paleoecologist who uses fossils and plants to investigate how environmental changes in the past affect taxonomic diversity, ecosystem structure, plant-insect interactions and biogeographic patterns. Her current research focuses on biotic responses to climate change during the hothouse Paleogene in the Western US, particularly in Wyoming, and how fossil plants can be used to construct paleoclimates and paleoenvironments.
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SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:
University of Wyoming
Smithsonian Institute
T.J. & Carole Woosley
Smithsonian Institute
T.J. & Carole Woosley
