Author Archives: Mark Wilson

About Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is a Professor of Geology at The College of Wooster. He specializes in invertebrate paleontology, carbonate sedimentology, and stratigraphy. He also is an expert on pseudoscience, especially creationism.

Wooster Geologists begin a new semester

We all hope this is our last pandemic semester. The College of Wooster began all its courses remotely for the first week of the semester, a format we are all very familiar with by now. In the second week we … Continue reading

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A new book chapter for a new year: Evolutionary history of colonial organisms as hosts and parasites

My Estonian colleague and friend Olev Vinn and I have a chapter in the new book The Evolution and Fossil Record of Parasitism. Ours is chapter four on the evolutionary history of colonial organisms as hosts and parasites. One of … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Department of Earth Sciences 2020-2021 Annual Report!

Our Administrative Coordinator Patrice Reeder has assembled another magnificent annual report for our department. Once again the Covid Pandemic made this task all the more complex. The cover shows one of our remote courses during the eventful year. We’re back … Continue reading

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On encountering a nest of fraudulent geology papers

This is a different kind of post! This semester I stumbled into an enormous collection of phony research papers published in the Arabian Journal of Geosciences. I became fascinated with the brazen nature of this fraud, and its large scale. … Continue reading

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New paper: Introducing the taphonomic process of ooimmuration

I’m pleased to announce the publication of an article describing how fossils can be preserved within carbonate ooids, and what the implications are for this new aspect of taphonomy (the study of fossil preservation) we call ooimmuration. The team of … Continue reading

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Cambrian bryozoans? Not yet! [Update in October 2021: Now there ARE Cambrian bryozoans!]

Editor’s Note: The post below was written in December 2012 about a purported bryozoan found in Cambrian rocks. This would have been a major find because bryozoans, a major fossilized phylum, were notably missing from the Cambrian record, despite molecular … Continue reading

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Two Wooster Geologists Honored Today

It is inspiring to see two Wooster Geologists in the news today for national honors! Professor Shelley Judge has been named as this year’s NCAA Div. III Faculty Athletics Representative of the Year by the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association. Read … Continue reading

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Wooster fieldwork resumes at Brown’s Lake Bog on a gorgeous day

Wayne County, Ohio — It was a perfect day for Wooster Geologists to do some aquatic fieldwork. It was my first day of fieldwork since March 2020 in Utah. This time I wasn’t doing much actual work, though — I … Continue reading

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Laboratory microphotography in the Department of Earth Sciences at The College of Wooster (Part 2)

This is the third in a series on laboratory photography in the Department of Earth Sciences at Wooster. In a comment on a Fossil of the Week post last month, Wooster Geologist Alumnus Dr. Bill Reinthal asked if I could … Continue reading

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Laboratory microphotography in the Department of Earth Sciences at The College of Wooster (Part 1)

In a comment on a Fossil of the Week post last month, Wooster Geologist Alumnus Dr. Bill Reinthal asked if I could describe how we do our lab photography in the Earth Sciences department. I started what will be a … Continue reading

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