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 Italian keyhole limpet (Pliocene of Cyprus)

Mark Wilson November 6, 2011 1:39 am

This week’s fossil is a beautiful little gastropod (snail) scientifically known as Diodora italica (Defrance, 1820), and commonly as the Italian Keyhole Limpet. I collected it with Steve Dornbos (’97) during the 1996 Keck Geology Expedition to Cyprus, where it … Continue reading →

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George Davis (’64) gives the Thirty-First Annual Osgood Memorial Lecture

Mark Wilson October 25, 2011 11:47 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–We were greatly honored this evening to have one of our own, Dr. George Davis (Wooster ’64), present the 31st Annual Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lecture. The Osgood Lectureship was endowed in 1981 by the three sons of … Continue reading →

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Exploring the Silica Formation (Middle Devonian) in Northwestern Ohio

Mark Wilson October 22, 2011 7:25 pm

PAULDING, OHIO–There’s nothing like the stirring rings of 50 geologic hammers in the morning. Today I was a guest of the North Coast Fossil Club and my friend Brian Bade in a quarry exposing the Middle Devonian limestones and shales. … Continue reading →

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How Fossils Saved Civilization: A National Fossil Day Talk

Mark Wilson October 20, 2011 10:02 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO — National Fossil Day has now been in place for two years. Curiously enough, two Wooster alumnae, Erica Clites and Eva Lyon, have been critical organizers and promoters of this great event as Paleontology Interns with the National … Continue reading →

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They’re back! Nursery school students visit the tree-ring lab

Mark Wilson October 19, 2011 2:46 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO — This time it was the turn of Dr. Greg Wiles to host the The College of Wooster Nursery School children as they visited Scovel Hall and its world-famous Wooster Tree-Ring Laboratory. He had ambitious plans for the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A carrier shell snail (Recent, Pacific Ocean)

Mark Wilson October 16, 2011 12:01 am

OK, it’s true: our Fossil of the Week is not actually a fossil. (The “Recent” in the title was a clue.) I bought this shell at the Wayne County Fair and it was so beautiful it just had to make … Continue reading →

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Sclerobionts and Extinctions: A Wooster Geologist Faculty Talk at the 2011 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

Mark Wilson October 12, 2011 9:29 am

The last day of a professional meeting is very different from the first. At least half the attendees have gone home. Those that remain move a little slower and have that glazed look from late night dinners, too little sleep, … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geology Alumni Gather at the 2011 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

Mark Wilson October 10, 2011 10:24 pm

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA–It is a tradition that Wooster geology alumni, faculty, students and friends gather at the Geological Society of America meeting on Monday evening. Twenty-three of us were there tonight, although we never seem to get everyone in the same … Continue reading →

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First Wooster student presentations: The Estonia team

Mark Wilson October 9, 2011 11:07 pm

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA–The first Wooster students presented today at the Geological Society of America annual meeting. Above is Nick Fedorchuk who talked about his work in Estonia studying the Wenlock-Ludlow boundary on Saaremaa Island and its implication for Silurian stratigraphy and … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists in Minneapolis! (Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America)

Mark Wilson October 9, 2011 2:27 pm

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA–Wooster Geologists are again attending the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in force. It is strangely very warm and sunny here in mid-October Minneapolis. The convention center looks like a late summer college campus with people … Continue reading →

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