Category Archives: Uncategorized

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Corkscrew shells from the Pliocene of Cyprus

mwilson May 20, 2012 1:15 am

Steve Dornbos (’97), now a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and I found these intricate shells by the hundreds in the Nicosia Formation (Pliocene) of Cyprus during his Independent Study field work. (We published this study in 1999.) They … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Intricate networks of tiny holes (clionaid sponge borings)

mwilson May 13, 2012 1:28 am

The most effective agents of marine bioerosion today are among the simplest of animals: clionaid sponges. The traces they make in carbonate substrates are spherical chambers connected by short tunnels, as shown above in a modern example excavated in an … Continue reading →

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Theory to Practice: An Early GSA Abstract

mpollock May 11, 2012 10:15 am

This semester, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching a special topics lab course in geochemistry. Given our new lab facilities, I decided to approach the class as an analytical geochemistry course. We explored sampling strategies, data quality, and the theory … Continue reading →

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Behind the Scenes at the Smithsonian

mpollock May 9, 2012 10:15 am

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Guest blogger: Lindsey Bowman (’12). As part of CUR’s Posters on the Hill event, we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. National Meteorite Collection at the Smithsonian. Our host was Dr. Cari Corrigan. Next, we toured … Continue reading →

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Presentations on Capitol Hill

mpollock May 7, 2012 8:42 pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Students and faculty aren’t the only audiences for Wooster I.S. presentations. This year, two Wooster students were selected (out of 850 applicants) to represent the best in undergraduate research at CUR’s Posters on the Hill event. Congratulations … Continue reading →

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A rite of passage: Geology Junior Independent Study presentations

mwilson May 6, 2012 7:33 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–The College of Wooster requires an Independent Study (I.S.) thesis (or performance) from all of its graduates. These are not just extended literature reviews, but unique research projects crafted for and by each of our students. We devote three … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A giant oyster (Eocene of Texas)

mwilson May 6, 2012 1:30 am

It’s no ordinary oyster, of course, because it comes from Texas. It certainly is the largest oyster I’ve ever seen. Wooster received it as part of a large donation in 2010. (You can see students studying it in this previous … Continue reading →

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Now this is field trip weather

mwilson May 1, 2012 3:30 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–It is now difficult to believe that we were measuring stratigraphic sections in a sleety thunderstorm on Saturday. Today the Tuesday lab of my Sedimentology & Stratigraphy course visited a local outcrop of the Logan Formation (Lower Carboniferous) to … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: the classic bioclaustration (Upper Ordovician of Ohio)

mwilson April 29, 2012 1:52 am

We’re looking at two fossils above. One is the bryozoan Peronopora, the major skeletal structure. The second is the odd series of scalloped holes in its surface. These are a trace fossil called Catellocaula vallata Palmer and Wilson 1988. They … Continue reading →

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A very damp field trip

mwilson April 28, 2012 6:17 pm

FAIRBORN, OHIO–I actually used to brag about the great weather on my class field trips. The hubris! Today Shelley Judge and I took our combined Sedimentology & Stratigraphy and Structural Geology classes to Oakes Park Quarry near Dayton for a … Continue reading →

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