Tag Archives: fossils

Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century

Mark Wilson October 31, 2010 12:28 pm

DENVER, COLORADO — The teaching of paleontology has changed dramatically over the course of my teaching career, and this excellent topical session at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting was designed for direct conversations about paleontological pedagogy. It was … Continue reading →

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And some useful donations are very small

Mark Wilson October 24, 2010 5:50 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO — The Wooster Geology Department is in the process of receiving a very large gift of geological specimens described in the last post. It is also worth noting that some small gifts can be very interesting as well. … Continue reading →

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Gifts for generations of geology students

Mark Wilson October 24, 2010 5:30 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO — The Geology Department at Wooster has received many donations of rocks, minerals and fossils over the years. Collectors are always passionate about their specimens, so when they decide to donate their treasures they want them to go … Continue reading →

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Wooster celebrates National Fossil Day

Mark Wilson October 13, 2010 8:28 am

WOOSTER, OHIO–Today we are celebrating the first annual National Fossil Day (or at least I am!). Be sure to check out that link from the National Park Service — it contains the official National Fossil Day song! My recognition of … Continue reading →

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The value of amateur paleontology

Mark Wilson October 10, 2010 1:27 pm

SULLIVAN, OHIO–Last month I gave a talk to the North Coast Fossil Club about an obscure fossil group, the hederelloids. My purpose, besides simply enjoying the good company of fossil enthusiasts, was to show the audience a type of small … Continue reading →

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New polychaete tubeworm fauna from the Jurassic of Israel

Mark Wilson September 21, 2010 9:20 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–That may not be the most exciting title I could choose, but it was a fun project nonetheless. My Estonian colleague Olev Vinn and I have a paper in the latest issue of  Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie … Continue reading →

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Wooster Paleontologists in Indiana!

Mark Wilson September 12, 2010 7:46 pm

RICHMOND and LIBERTY, INDIANA–The College of Wooster Invertebrate Paleontology class had its field trip today to sunny eastern Indiana. We collected bags and bags of fossils from Upper Ordovician strata for research projects throughout the rest of the course. Each … Continue reading →

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Hederelloids: Pulled from obscurity! (Well, maybe …)

Mark Wilson September 11, 2010 4:23 pm

PARMA, OHIO–This afternoon I gave a talk at a meeting of the North Coast Fossil Club in this suburb of Cleveland. I chose the poorly-known fossil group called hederelloids as my topic because I knew that many people in that … Continue reading →

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Last stop in Europe: The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History

Mark Wilson August 18, 2010 1:33 pm

FRANKFURT, GERMANY–Isn’t that a great front yard for a Natural History Museum? Diplodocus longus strides by columnar basalt and a massive chunk of conglomerate. This is the Naturmuseum Senckenberg in downtown Frankfurt, about two blocks from my hotel. On my … Continue reading →

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Fossils on the Meuse-Argonne Battlefield

Mark Wilson August 16, 2010 10:21 am

VIENNE LE CHATEAU, FRANCE–To my delight, while exploring the Meuse-Argonne area this morning, I found an exposure of marly Cretaceous sediments very near where my Grandfather’s tank brigade assembled for an attack at dawn on October 4, 1918. The sediment … Continue reading →

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