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.

A Wooster Geologist goes virtual

Mark Wilson December 15, 2020 3:53 pm

Wooster, Ohio — We can’t let the eventful year of 2020 to pass without some record in this blog of how these difficult times profoundly affected Wooster’s Department of Earth Sciences. Along with the rest of the American educational system, … Continue reading →

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A new paper describing and interpreting a new crinoid from the Upper Ordovician of Estonia

Mark Wilson November 7, 2020 5:55 pm

I am very pleased to announce that Lena Cole, Bill Ausich, and I have a new article that appeared (on a dramatic election day in the USA!) in Papers in Palaeontology: “A Hirnantian holdover from the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction: … Continue reading →

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New Paper: Quantifying ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering during the early Phanerozoic — The role of bioturbation and bioerosion

Mark Wilson August 14, 2020 2:10 pm

I am thrilled to announce the publication today of this comprehensive open-access paper in Science Advances: “Quantifying ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering during the early Phanerozoic — The role of bioturbation and bioerosion“. It was a long time coming after … Continue reading →

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New paper on a symbiotic relationship between tube-dwellers and bryozoans in the Silurian of Estonia

Mark Wilson May 12, 2020 9:24 am

I have thoroughly enjoyed my many expeditions to the wondrous Baltic country of Estonia. My Estonian colleagues are fabulous, and I’ve been privileged to share the adventures with numerous students and Bill Ausich of Ohio State. Now during this global … Continue reading →

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The complex origin of ooids in the Middle Jurassic Carmel Formation of southwestern Utah: Anna Cooke’s Senior Independent Study thesis

Mark Wilson April 3, 2020 9:30 am

Editor’s Note: Independent Study (IS) at The College of Wooster is a three-course series required of every student before graduation. Earth Sciences students typically begin in the second semester of their junior years with project identification, literature review, and a … Continue reading →

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Coryphodon and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Emily Randall’s Senior Independent Study thesis

Mark Wilson March 25, 2020 9:08 am

Editor’s Note: Independent Study (IS) at The College of Wooster is a three-course series required of every student before graduation. Earth Sciences students typically begin in the second semester of their junior years with project identification, literature review, and a … Continue reading →

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Jurassic bivalves in a shallow epicontinental seaway: Evan Shadbolt’s Senior Independent Study thesis

Mark Wilson March 24, 2020 10:22 am

Editor’s Note: Independent Study (IS) at The College of Wooster is a three-course series required of every student before graduation. Earth Sciences students typically begin in the second semester of their junior years with project identification, literature review, and a … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Team Utah 2020 Fieldwork

Mark Wilson March 13, 2020 3:13 am

This is the index page for Wooster’s Team Utah 2020 expedition (March 9-13, 2020). The team members above are, from the left, Will Santella (’21), Juda Culp (’21), Nick Wiesenberg (geological technician), and Dr. Shelley Judge (structural geologist and tectonicist). … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Team Utah 2020: Final Day in the Field (Alas)

Mark Wilson March 12, 2020 3:12 am

Hurricane, Utah — Last night we made the sad decision to leave for home as soon as possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The College has mandated no more in-person teaching, and we don’t want our flight plans to be … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Team Utah 2020: On a Jurassic Tidal Flat

Mark Wilson March 11, 2020 3:11 am

Hurricane, Utah — Our second day was devoted to measuring, describing and sampling Will’s stromatolite-bearing rocks in the lower half of the Co-op Creek Limestone Member of the Carmel Formation. This locality is only a couple of hundred meters west … Continue reading →

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