Author Archives: Mark Wilson

About Mark Wilson

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.

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An ammonite from the Middle Jurassic of southern England

Mark Wilson July 8, 2016 12:01 am

We’re featuring just a workaday fossil this week because of other summer activities. This is the ammonite Leptosphinctes Buckman 1929 from the Inferior Oolite (Middle Jurassic) at Coombe Quarry, Mapperton, Dorset, southern England. Cassidy Jester (’17) and I collected it … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Iron-oxide oncoids (“snuff-boxes”) from the Middle Jurassic of southern England

Mark Wilson July 1, 2016 12:01 am

These fossils (in the broad sense!) are inevitable for our weekly feature considering how much time we spent studying and collecting them during last month’s fieldwork in Dorset, southern England. “Snuff-boxes” are the subject of Cassidy Jester’s (’17) Senior Independent … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist high in the air!

Mark Wilson June 20, 2016 2:31 pm

Editor’s note: The following post is from guest blogger Annette Hilton (’17) about her extraordinary research experiences this summer. Annette gets around: You may remember her post last summer from the American Museum of Natural History. This summer I have … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists in England: Team Dorset

Mark Wilson June 19, 2016 2:47 pm

Cassidy Jester (’17) and I have now finished our fieldwork in southern England this month. Cassidy traveled through Britain afterwards, and I went on to London and the Natural History Museum. It was all a success thanks to my friends … Continue reading →

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Final day at The Natural History Museum … and one more Jurassic snuff-box

Mark Wilson June 17, 2016 6:17 am

London, England — My last day in London was spent working on GSA abstracts and examining one last ferruginous oncoid (“snuff-box”) from the Jurassic (Bajocian) of southern England. Bob Chandler donated to the cause a large discoidal snuff-box. We cut … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Symbiotic interactions in the Silurian of Baltica

Mark Wilson June 17, 2016 12:01 am

This week’s fossils are from work Olev Vinn (University of Tartu, Estonia) and I did last summer that is soon to appear in the journal Lethaia. (An early electronic version of the manuscript has been available since November.) After numerous … Continue reading →

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Research in a paleontological paradise

Mark Wilson June 16, 2016 6:16 am

London, England — If any center of scientific research can be sacred, the Natural History Museum of London is a holy of holies for paleontology. Its deep history, highly skilled researchers and staff, and magnificent architecture makes it a very … Continue reading →

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Another day of research at The Natural History Museum, London

Mark Wilson June 15, 2016 6:15 am

London, England — I spent most of my museum time today at a keyboard, but in a splendid and collegial setting. Very productive and stimulating conversations with Paul Taylor and Consuelo Sendino, but mostly screen time. I drew little map … Continue reading →

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A day at the Natural History Museum in London

Mark Wilson June 14, 2016 6:14 am

London, England — My first full day at The Natural History Museum in London was interesting and inspiring as always, but it did have its tedium. This drawer of Ordovician brachiopods, for example. I scanned each with my handlens in … Continue reading →

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Team Dorset in transit

Mark Wilson June 13, 2016 6:13 am

Bristol to London, England — Cassidy Jester (’17) and I returned to the Bristol train station (above) on our way to London. We grabbed a smidgen of geology along the way: This common stone in the train station looked familiar. … Continue reading →

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