Author Archives: mwilson

About mwilson

Mark Wilson is an emeritus 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.

Team Jurassic Utah 2019 begins its adventure

mwilson March 11, 2019 3:11 am

Hurricane, Utah — A new crew of Wooster Geologists traveled today to southwestern Utah to explore the marvelous Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic). We are continuing the work of last year’s team and expanding into new areas. We are five people … Continue reading →

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Science Olympiad training, fossil events

mwilson February 18, 2019 10:03 pm

Wooster, Ohio — I had the pleasure today of assisting with the training of Olympians! The above three students are from Orrville High and Middle Schools, along with their coach the ace geology high school teacher Jim Duxbury. They came … Continue reading →

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Bringing three new Silurian bryozoan species into the world

mwilson February 10, 2019 5:50 pm

I love being part of the scientific process of naming new organisms and placing them into the grand narrative that is the history of life. It is a kind of rescue — retrieving species from oblivion by giving them identities. … Continue reading →

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Conulariid and trepostome bryozoan symbiosis in the Upper Ordovician of Estonia

mwilson January 22, 2019 8:00 pm

A new paper is just out in which all the characters have been covered previously in this blog, but not as parts of a single story. It describes an interprets the relationship between the mysterious conulariids and trepostome bryozoans in … Continue reading →

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New paper on bryoimmuration and taphonomic engineering

mwilson January 12, 2019 8:57 am

I’m pleased to link to a new paper that has just appeared in the journal Lethaia. My wonderful coauthors are Caroline Buttler (National Museum Wales) and Paul Taylor (Natural History Museum, London). The paper explores the role calcitic bryozoans play … Continue reading →

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Wooster Earth Scientists at their annual “Mock GSA” — 2018 version

mwilson November 1, 2018 5:15 pm

Wooster, Ohio — Every Fall the students and faculty of Wooster’s Earth Sciences Department look forward to participating in the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. Next week the meeting will be held in Indianapolis, and over a … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Invertebrate Paleontology class at work

mwilson September 18, 2018 4:22 pm

Wooster, Ohio — The Invertebrate Paleontology class at Wooster set to work this afternoon on the excellent fossils they collected at the beginning of last week. They had already washed them carefully, using soft brushes and soap, and now were … Continue reading →

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2018 Invertebrate Paleontology field trip — with the Ghost of Gordon

mwilson September 9, 2018 6:12 pm

The Invertebrate Paleontology class at Wooster had its annual field trip today to the Upper Ordovician (Katian) Cincinnati Group (Upper Whitewater Formation) in eastern Indiana. The weather looked terrible as the remnant of Tropical Storm Gordon worked its way into … Continue reading →

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2018 Expedition to Estonia

mwilson August 10, 2018 3:01 am

Bill Ausich (Academy Professor, Ohio State University) and I just finished an excellent research trip to Estonia. As is the custom on this blog, here are the relevant posts in chronological order: July 27: Wooster and Ohio State paleontologists return … Continue reading →

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Wooster and Ohio State Paleontologists in Tallinn, Estonia

mwilson August 8, 2018 6:08 pm

Tallinn, Estonia — This morning Bill Ausich (Ohio State University) took the bus from Tartu to Tallinn to finish one more research task and then prepare for the long journey home. Above is the view from my hotel room towards … Continue reading →

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