Alberta Vertebrate Palaeontology Association

"New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs" is finally available!

2010-06-14T17:55:00.003-07:00

Last Thursday the book of papers from the Royal Tyrrell Museum's Ceratopsian Symposium, "New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs", was made available after a long (and frustrating) delay through Indiana University Press.

This volume includes 36 peer-reviewed papers as well as a CD-ROM of three additional informative papers (including a history of ceratopsian discoveries and a bibliography of published papers). The book has 10 new species described and numerous thought-provoking hypotheses proposed.

Why am I so excited about it being published? As a volunteer, I was able to help the editors with final edits on the book and was pleasantly surprised by being named an editorial assistant. Also, it's a landmark publication that will be cited for years to come and I was honored to be able to help.

So run out and get it while it's literally hot off the press and enjoy! :D

The scow trip approaches...

2010-06-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our scow trip down the Red Deer River is approaching. See the blog "Dinosaur Hunting by Boat in 2010: Alberta, Canada" for more information. http://2010dinohuntingbyboat.blogspot.com/

New exhibit at Tyrrell Museum

2010-05-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

May 22 is the opening of the latest exhibit at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta. It's in celebration of their 25th anniversary. They've chosen 25 amazing specimens to put on display. You can see photos of the specimens on their Flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tyrrellmuseum/with/4606976945/. The exhibit is entitled "Alberta Unearthed: Twenty-five stories of discovery". I'm looking forward to seeing it and hope you are too!

The above picture is one of the specimens, a Tyrannosaurus rex called Black Beauty. The image was shamelessly stolen from the Tyrrell Flickr page.

D-Day approaches

2010-05-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow at 2PM is my 2 hour oral candidacy exam. I don't think I've been this stressed out since I got divorced over a dozen years ago. Today I went through all the different stages of grief, with an especially long time spent on anger. Mainly it pisses me off that I have to go through all of this to prove my academic worthiness when I've already completed a masters degree. I guess I could see it if someone goes from completing their bachelors right into a PhD, but did my 2.5 years of research count for nothing? I guess not. Sigh.

Tonight I'm to the point where if I fail, that will be fine because in all the years I did accounting I never felt this beat up. So maybe accounting wasn't that bad after all.

So wish me luck tomorrow. I'm pretty disillusioned about the entire thing and I'm suspicious that I won't feel any better about it when it's over - no matter how it turns out. T minus 16 hours and counting...

Horned Dinosaur Book

2010-05-03T14:41:00.001-07:00

The latest on the "New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs" book is that it will be released on May 28, 2010. I'm crossing my fingers, although after all the other delays I won't really believe it until I have it in my hot little hands. :D

Congratulations Dani Fraser, newly minted master of science!

2010-04-26T10:47:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Dani Fraser for successfully defending her masters thesis "Studying latitudinal variation in the response of ungulates to Late Miocene climate change utilizing ungulates from the Coffee Ranch (Hemphillian Age) of Texas" here at the Biological Sciences Department of the University of Calgary.

Dani will be going on to Carleton University for her PhD and continuing her research in the Rybczynski lab.

Congratulations Dani!

Candidacy exams

2010-04-14T21:16:00.001-07:00

I am currently in the middle of my candidacy written exam - otherwise known as 'candidacy hell'. I noticed as the exams approached and I discussed (or, more accurately, complained) about them, that many people didn't know what they are. So I thought I'd post a short explanation about them. Candidacy exams are also known as qualifying exams and most PhD students will have to endure them in one form or another. I had them explained to me by a committee member as a way for your advisory committee to ensure that you can handle the pressures of academic life and/or the rigors of research as well as to look for deficiencies within your knowledge that need to be worked on. They also see how you work under pressure.

Candidacy exams come in two basic forms: 1) a written exam and 2) an oral exam. The majority of people who have been through them have told me that they only had to endure a two hour oral exam. My department, however, makes you go through both. Here's a timeline of how this should work: Approximately 6 months before your oral exam, you/your supervisor/your committee (or some combination thereof) create a reading list to help refresh your memory on the basics within your chosen field, teach you new techniques for your research, and to catch you up on any important literature that you may have missed. My reading list included 23 books and 18 papers. I ended up reading them all, plus an additional 9 books and countless papers. Then one month before your oral exam, you receive four questions that your committee has compiled. You choose three of those questions to write 20-25 page (double spaced) papers on within the following three weeks. These papers get turned in to your committee members. Then you get a week "off" - but most people spend that time familiarizing themselves with the subject(s) of the fourth question. The end of that week is your two hour oral exam. The format for the oral exam usually follows a program: First, your committee members ask questions related to the papers that you have written, then, they ask about the question that chose not to write on, and finally, they can ask whatever they want on basically whatever subject they want. Usually, they don't ask questions that are too far out in left-field, but I've heard some real horror stories.

While this sounds (and is) pretty daunting, I'd almost rather have both the written and oral exam because at least you can feel prepared for the oral exam. Going into an oral exam cold with no idea what your committee may ask would be terrifying.

If I could change things, I would reduce the number of papers that we had to write from three to two in the allotted three week time period so we could spend a bit more time thinking about the subject matter and polishing them up when completed. However, it is what it is.

My oral exam is on May 5th at 2PM (MST). If there is a very loud pop heard around the world at that time, rest assured that it is my head exploding. Now back to work for me.

Spam within the comments section.

2010-04-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start blocking the comments section because I'm consistently getting spam from asian porn sites there. It's starting to get frustrating. I can't seem to get in to change the settings so they can no longer post comments. I think it's due to the way in which the blog was originally set up. If anyone of my fellow administrators has any issues, email me directly. Thanks.

APS talk on the Mesozoic of the south coast of England

2010-03-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Shamelessly stolen from an email from Phil Benham of the Alberta Paleontological Society:

"A Fieldtrip to the Mesozoic South Coast of England"

Speaker: Vaclav Marsovsky
APS Membership director

7:30 PM
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Mount Royal University, Room B108

Abstract:
If you have an interest or want to travel to the South Coast of England to see the geology and the fossils, then this presentation is for you! The presentation will follow the route taken during a recent field trip organized by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. The major rock units and their fossils will be discussed with a focus on vertebrates. The presentation will cover fossils eroding from the rocks in the field, in private collections of local collectors, and on display at local public museums and Heritage Centres. The rocks were initially studied by the clergy and medical practitioners turned geologists and palaeontologists. The “who’s who” in 19th century geology and palaeontology relating to the South Coast will be covered. This presentation will show what the rocks look like and cover the Tertiary / Cretaceous sites from the Isle of Wight and Mesozoic sites from the “Jurassic coast”. The term “Jurassic Coast” is a bit misleading because it covers all of the Mesozoic. From the South Coast, a 155km long section (the most interesting and worth protecting) became a UNESCO site in the year 2001. The Jurassic Coast is one of those rare sites where collecting of common fossils is encouraged and amateur fossil collectors play an important role in the science.

Information:
This event is jointly presented by the Alberta Palaeontological Society, Mount Royal University and the CSPG Palaeontology Division. For details or to present a talk in the future please contact CSPG Paleo Division Chair Philip Benham at 403-691-3343 or programs@albertapaleo.org . Visit the APS website for confirmation of event times and upcoming speakers:

Quit spamming the blog you scumbags!

2010-03-06T20:37:00.001-08:00

Okay. I know I don't update this blog very often, but whoever it is that keeps putting spam in the comments is going to get an old fashioned ass kicking if they aren't careful. It's always some asian porn crap. I'll be reporting the 'person' who keeps doing this to the proper e-blogger authorities.

Palaeo 2010

2010-01-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

The Alberta Palaeontological Society is holding it's annual sympsium at Mount Royal University March 13th & 14th.

I'm excited to see Dr. Scott Sampson of the Utah Museum of Natural History present as he is easily the best speaker I've ever seen. There will be a book signing afterwards so don't forget to bring your "Dinosaur Odyssey" books along!

Below is a list of speakers and events shamelessly stolen right from Phil Benham's email (although I'm sure he won't mind). : )

PALEO 2010 Annual Paleontology Symposium Presented in conjunction with the C.S.P.G. Paleontological Division, Alberta Palaeontological Society and Mount Royal University Earth Sciences Department

Lectures and Poster displays (Saturday, March 13th, 2010, 8:30 AM-5:15 PM) Workshops (Sunday March 14th, 2010, (9:00 AM- 4:00 PM)

Saturday lecture events and poster viewings are free and require no registration. Sunday workshops do require registration and minor fee.

Mount Royal University 4825 Richard Road S.W. Calgary, Alberta

Saturday March 13th Lectures (held in Jenkins Theatre) Speakers confirmed so far include (talk titles are tentative):

8.30-8.45 AM Introduction by APS President Wayne Braunberger

8.45-9.15 AM Craig Dylke. New Zealand's fossils: remnants of a lost continent

9:15-9.45 AM Danielle Fraser, Jordan Mallon, Rob Furr, and Jessica M. Theodor, Univ. of Calgary Using high dynamic range imaging in vertebrate paleontology

9.45-10.15 AM Lisa Bohach, FMA Heritage The art, culture and science of Iniskims

10.15-10.30 AM Coffee Break

10.30 -11.00 AM Darren Tanke, Royal Tyrrell Museum Reconstruction of scows used in early paleontological research and a commemorative expedition planned for 2010.

11.00-12.00 PM Marianne Collins, ArtoFact. History, mystery and baywatch: Illustrating the animals of the Burgess Shale

12-1.30 PM Lunch break and Poster Session

1.30-2:00 PM Scott Persons, University of Alberta Changing the face of tyrannosaur rear ends: tail muscle reconstruction in theropod dinosaurs

2.00-2.30 PM Ariana Carabajal, Museo Carmen Funes, Argentina, and Philip Currie, University of Alberta. Cranial endocast of the Jurassic theropod Sinraptor dongi (Currie & Zhao)

2.30-3:00 PM Victoria Arbour, Mike Burns, University of Alberta My ankylosaur is a big dumb tank! Ankylosaur reconstructions in the scientific literature and popular media

3.00- 4.00 PM Philip Currie, University of Alberta Dinosaurs in science and art

4.00-4.15 PM Coffee Break

4.15-5.15 PM Scott Sampson, , Utah Museum of Natural History, University of Utah Dinosaurs of the lost continent of Laramidia (Book signing afterwards)

WORKSHOPS (Sunday March 14th), Room B213, Mount Royal University.

9 -12 AM: Permian Vertebrate Fossils from North Central Texas Presenter: Jason Anderson, University of Calgary Cost: $15 per person. This workshop will cover the faunas typical for the classic Permian localities of northern Texas. There will be a brief introduction to the history of collecting in the Permian of Texas. This will be followed by a survey of the most common fossils found. Small collections of fossils from a few localities will be provided for workshop participants to examine and identify. Screenwashed sediments may also be available for participants to examine for fossil remains.

Jason Anderson is a paleontologist and Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Paleontology, coeditor of Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution (with Hans-Dieter Sues), and a contributing author to Prehistoric Life, The McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology 2009, and the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science, 10th Edition. He is the author of over 30 articles on the early evolution of Paleozoic tetrapods.

1- 4 PM Make-a-Saurus Presenter: Brian Cooley Cost: $25 per person including cost of materials Using a variety of simple materials and methods, participants will learn how to make their own dinosaur which they will be able to take home at the end of the workshop. Children should wear clothes that they don't mind getting dirty.

Brian Cooley has been making sculptures of dinosaurs for over twenty-five years. His sculptures may be seen in museums all over the world, most notably the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta. He and his wife, Mary Ann Wilson, are co-authors of the children's book Make-A-Saurus.

Make cheque payable to the Alberta Palaeontological Society, P.O. Box 35111, Sarcee Postal Outlet, Calgary Alberta, Canada T3E 7C7. Deadline for workshop registration is March 1st, 2010

University of Alberta Biennial Palaeo Symposium

2010-01-11T17:59:00.001-08:00

The Bienniel Palaeo Symposium is being held at the University of Alberta at Edmonton on January 30th. Here's some info shamelessly stolen off of facebook:

The 3rd Biennial Symposium takes place Saturday, January 30, 2010, in the Earth Sciences Building room 3-27.

8:30: registration table opens

9 – 9:30 Alison Murray, “Late Cretaceous actinopterygian fishes from Morocco”

9:30 – 10 Lindsey Leighton, “The influence of predation on community composition and evenness: A case-study from Eocene molluscan communities”

10 – 10:30 coffee break and posters

10:30 – 11:00 Clive Coy, “What species is that faeces?”

11:00 – 11:30 Kevin Aulenback, “What’s really out there? The conifers (gymnosperms) of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Cretaceous) of Drumheller, Alberta.”

11:30 – noon Duane Froese, “Alaska’s last mammoth - no bones about it.”

Noon – 1:30 pm lunch and posters

1:30 – 2:00 Pierre Lemelin, “Functional morphology of the wrist joints in strepsirrhine primates: Importance of laboratory-based experiments to infer behaviour in extinct species.”

2:00 – 2:30: Sally Leys, “Evolution of multicellular animals: lessons from sponges.”

2:30 – 3:30 – coffee break and posters

3:30 - 4 Takuya Konishi, “Evolution of Plioplatecarpinae (Squamata: Mosasauridae)—new insights into their pelagic adaptations”

4 – 4:45 keynote: George Pemberton, “Assessing permeability/porosity trends in bioturbated media”

There will also be more than 20 posters covering dinosaurs, champsosaurs, fish, mammals, turtles, pterosaurs, and arthropods.

Following the symposium (January 30), there will be a wine and cheese reception at Leva Cappucino Bar, located close to campus at 11053 86 Ave, beginning at 7pm. Tickets are $10 each and can be reserved by emailing uofaps@ualberta.ca. Tickets will be available for purchase and pick-up at the symposium registration desk, and include entrance to Leva, one free glass of wine, and refreshments. Attire is business casual/semi-formal.

GeoCanada 2010 conference

2010-01-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

The GeoCanada 2010 conference "Working with the Earth" is being held in Calgary May 10-14, 2010. There are numerous technical sessions, workshops and short courses of interest. It's being held at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park which is conveniently accessible by transit (C-train). Unfortunately, abstracts (preferably up to 4 pages) are due January 15th. For more information go to http://www.geocanada2010.ca/.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a lovely holiday season and that 2010 brings lots of great things. It looks to be a busy one for me, but I'll try to keep the blog updated on paleo goings-on around Alberta. Cheers! : )

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

Have a happy holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a hearty Happy Thanksgiving wish to all of my American friends and family (and anyone else who is celebrating). Enjoy the day!

Dinosaur Research Institute's annual fundraising dinner

2009-10-19T20:21:00.001-07:00

The Dinosaur Research Institute's annual fundraising dinner will be held on November 7, 2009 at 6PM at the Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary. Tickets are $150 per person with tax receipts available for a large portion of the ticket cost. The funds raised go towards dinosaur research based in Alberta or for researchers from Alberta to conduct research outside of the province (such as visiting distant museums, etc.).

The Dinosaur Research Institute also maintains the Rene Vandervelde grant, which provides funds for Alberta-based dinosaur researchers to present at conferences as well as the Darren Tanke Neoceratopsian Scholarship which provides funds for ceratopsian workers to visit distant museums, present at conferences, etc.

During the dinner, several presentations from past recipients will occur and a paleontology student from Alberta will be present at each table. A silent auction will be held after the dinner with numerous interesting items available.

For more information, visit www.dinosaurresearch.com. Hope to see you there!

Bristol SVP

2009-10-05T08:28:00.001-07:00

So, another SVP conference under my belt. I believe it was my 8th. Having SVP in Bristol, England, was a lot of fun even with the glitches (the venue was way too small - I don't think they ever envisioned that 1100 people would attend!; they 'lost' my registration, but my boyfriend was registered twice - go figure; the walk between venues was about 10 minutes - so you had to plan ahead which can be hard after partying all night). However, it was all worth it. I saw many interesting talks and it was good to see everyone and find out how their research has been going. Plus the sightseeing was awesome. I love that I spent time in buildings that are older than my country! : )

Next year SVP is in Pittsburgh, which I'm sure won't be quite as scenic, but should still be a good time. Lookin' forward to it!

Thank you field assistants!!

2009-09-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send out a great big "Thank you!" to all my field and lab assistants this summer. You all helped out tremendously and will be mentioned in the acknowledgements of my dissertation! : )

Collection of Scollard material at Dry Island

2009-08-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

I've been working a site in the Scollard Formation of Dry Island Buffalo Jump Park that is looking quite promising. It was worked about 6 or 7 years ago by Dr. Don Brinkman and Allison Fotheringham (both of the Tyrrell Museum), but not really looked at since then. So far I've surface collected and found a nice theropod tooth (pictured above) and an ankylosaur scute as well as a lot of other small bits. We've also collected about 15 smallish (25-35 lb) bags of matrix. I'm going to be getting more bodies in the field with me this week and will collect even more material to wash during the winter. It would go much faster except we have to carry the bags up the Hill of Doom which has about a 35 degree slope on the path out and is about a half a kilometer long. I can only walk the hill once a day. I'm hoping my younger and fitter field assistants will be able to do it twice a day for the next week. : )

New blog regarding 2010 scow trip

2009-08-15T07:57:00.001-07:00

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Barnum Brown floating down the Red Deer River in Alberta to prospect and collect dinosaurs, Darren Tanke and I will be re-enacting this event during the summer of 2010. We've started a new blog that will keep everyone apprised of the status of the trip. It's called "Dinosaur Hunting by boat in 2010: Alberta, Canada" and can be found at http://2010dinohuntingbyboat.blogspot.com/. We are planning to use this blog before, during and after the trip to post pictures, discuss plans and just generally let everyone know how things are going. It's going to be a fun and educational trip and I hope that everyone will join us on the blog. We are open to discussion and hope that you will feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

No SVP awards banquet

2009-08-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

I have to say I'm a bit annoyed at SVP at the moment. I recently read an email from SVP President Blair Van Valkenburg that states they couldn't find a room big enough to hold all of us, so they are going to change the awards banquet to a simple ceremony. While I'm really looking forward to the conference, the fact that we don't get an awards banquet this year is kind of annoying. I understand that the economy is in the crapper, but I find it hard to believe that the university doesn't have a room large enough to hold us all. Where do they hold their graduation ceremonies?

I feel that I paid a lot to register (even as a student) as well as $1100 (CDN) for the flight, and will be paying around $115 (US) per night for the hotel, plus then food and incidentals. I think the least they could do is have a banquet. The food doesn't have to be spectacular - I'd be happy with sandwiches and chips. And I'd bet good money that when the economy does pick back up that the banquet will still be history. Actually, I found it rather amusing that she mentioned that there will not be food during coffee breaks (just cookies) because I can only think of one meeting where there was real food during coffee breaks and that was at Bozeman. I remember everyone being surprised and delighted at the food and snarfing down.

I won't even go into the whole Attenborough lecture fiasco - especially since I ended up getting tickets much to my surprise.

Oh well. I'm still be attending and looking forward to seeing everyone and being in Bristol, even if it means I have to give up the banquet.

INHIGEO 2009: Fossils & Fuel

2009-08-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

The INHIGEO 2009 conference is being held in Calgary on August 10-14. The symposium will be concentrating on fossils and fuel. Darren and I will be attending and he will be giving 4 solo talks and is a co-author on another. I'm looking forward to learning about the world wide history behind fossil and fuel discoveries.

Field Work Fun

2009-06-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Despite a slight back injury causing some delays, I've been collecting matrix for my PhD project which is a microvertebrate study of the Scollard Fm here in Alberta. One very nice Saturday, Darren, Natasha and I visited and collected from a productive road cut.

We found a nice layer where Ornithischian tooth fragments, gar and other fish scales, crocodile teeth, etc (all typical Scollard microfossils) were eroding out.

Also found was this turtle plate that was surprisingly complete. I have, of course, lost my usual scale bar and had forgotten my new one, so made due with the Blistex tube that I always have with me. I've been accused of being addicted to the stuff in the past, but I always figured there are worse things to be addicted to. : )

Anyway, the turtle plate turned out to be a Chelydrid hypoplastron which Dr. Don Brinkman (of the Royal Tyrrell Museum and my co-supervisor) seemed pleased with.

We ended up collecting 7 bags of test matrix and I'm excited to get the material washed next week. I'll then sort through it, picking out the fossils and doing my best to identify them (I'm still new at this) and decide whether it's worth going back to do major collection.

This is just one of six sites I've seen thus far and I hope to visit more further north on the Red Deer River soon. I'll do my best to update the blog as I go along.

I did want to mention that in Alberta, one must have an excavation permit to collect matrix or do anything other than surface collect and to be sure that you always have proper landowner permission before going onto any site.

Gaffney Turtle Symposium

2009-05-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

Registration for the Gaffney Turtle Symposium, Oct. 17th & 18th of 2009, is up and running and abstracts are now being accepted. The deadline for early registration is September 7th. Abstracts may be submitted until June 30th. Information on registration, abstract submission, and hotels is available at:http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/events/turtlesymp09.php. Hope to see you there!

Just because...

2009-04-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

I think this is hilarious! : )

Horseshoe Canyon Fm fossil plant guide

2009-04-04T10:25:00.001-07:00

Kevin Aulenback's guide to the fossil plants of the Horseshoe Canyon Fm will be available in June. I had the honor of leafing (Ha! Get it?) through it before publication and can say without hesitation that it's a lovely book. The color photographs are beautiful and the research very informative. I know that I'll be purchasing a copy.

It'll be available in June through the University of Calgary Press (www.uofcpress.com) for $34.95 CDN. It is 400 pages long with over 800 color and black and white illustrations.

Congratulations to Kevin for a job well done!

Alberta fossil guide now available

2009-03-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

The Alberta Palaeontological Society announces the release of the "Guide to Common Vertebrate Fossils from the Cretaceous of Alberta". This is an updated version of the classic guide by Hope Johnson including original artwork, color photographs and descriptions of fossils. This 234 page, spiral bound book is perfect for identification of fossils in the field or office.

It's $30 (Canadian) for non-APS members with $15 shipping and handling. See their website for more information: http://www.albertapaleo.org.

I'm happy to have my copy and am positive that you'll enjoy it too.

Paleo2009 symposium

2009-03-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Alberta Palaeontological Society's annual symposium is being held this weekend (March 14-15) at Mount Royal College in Calgary. Registration is free. Here's a list of Saturday's speakers:

9AM - introduction by APS president Don Quinsey

9:15 - Prothero, Occidental College, Los Angeles

"Stasis in late Pleistocene birds and mammals from Rancho La Brea during last glacial- interglacial cycle"

10:00 - Don Brinkman, Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller

"The non-marine fish of the Late Cretaceous and early Paleocene of Western North

America - evidence from microvertebrate sites"

10:30 - Coffee break

10:45 - * Danielle Fraser, University of Calgary

"Studying latitudinal variation in the reponse of ungulates to late Miocene climate

change"

11:15 - Keiichi Aotsuka, Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, Morden

"The first occurrence of the Baptornithidae in the Pierre Shale Formation (Pembina

Member) of Manitoba"

11:45-1:45 - Lunch break and poster viewing

1:45 - Darren Tanke, Royal Tyrrell Museum

"The use of helicopters in paleontological field work in Alberta, Canada"

2:15 - Murray Gingras, University of Alberta

"Pleistocene walrus predation; trace fossil evidence in Willapa Bay, Washington"

2:45 - * Jason Anderson, University of Calgary

"The impact of the 'frogamander' on ideas of modern amphibian evolution"

3:45 - Coffee break

4:00 - Joseph Hatcher, Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, Morden

"Paleotaxa of the Pierre Shale Formation, Southern Manitoba"

5:00 - Finish

There is also a workshop being held on Sunday from 9-12 AM on the "Comparative osteology of the fossil marine taxa of Southern Manitoba" by Joseph Hatcher of the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden. Registration for the workshop is manditory and costs $15.

* I've heard that these two may be switched around, but don't have confirmation of that fact.

There will also be poster presentations and fossils on display.

Hope to see everyone there!

BCPS call for abstracts

2009-03-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

The Vancouver Paleontological Society presents the Eighth British Columbia Paleontological Symposium being held May 15-18, 2009 in Vancouver, BC. This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Gregory Wilson of the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Integrative Biology (although I believe they mean the University of Washington, Department of Biology since that's where Greg is now). The symposium will include talks by professionals as well as avocational paleontologists, field trips, workshops, retail booths and a paleo art show.

While the symposium highlights fossil mammals, they invite talks, posters and displays showcasing all aspects of paleontology.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is April 10, 2009.

Registrations for the full symposium is $100 for professional paleontologists and non-BCPA attendees, $80 for BCPS members and $60 for students.

For more information, please see their website at www.bcfossils.ca.

As an aside - unfortunately, this symposium overlaps the Frenchman Formation Conference which is being held in Eastend, Saskatchewan from May 17-20. See below for more details on that conference.

Early registration for the Frenchman Fm conference approaches

2009-02-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that the deadline for early registration for the Frenchman Formation Terrestrial Ecosystem Conference is March 1, 2009. On or before March 1, the prices for registration are: $100 for students, $125 for non-students. After March 1, the price is $150 for all registrants. For information on registering, go to dinocountry.com and scroll down to the bottom and look for the T.rex Centre - below is the link. Hope to see everyone there!

BTW - does anyone even look at this blog?! Just curious... ; )

Royal Tyrrell Museum 2009 Speaker Series

2009-02-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

As this is considered to be the "year of Darwin", the Tyrrell is hosting a plethora of interesting talks regarding the man and his works. Each talk is approximately 1 hour long and admission is free.

Friday Feb. 27 11AM Tai Kubo (Royal Tyrrell Museum) "Evolution of limb posture in archosaurs"

Sat. March 7 2PM Alwynne Beaudoin (Royal Alberta Museum) "Charles Darwin"

Sat. March 14 2PM Don Prothero (Occidental College, California) "Evolution: What the fossils say and why it matters"

Sat. March 21 2PM Dave Eberth (Royal Tyrrell Museum) "Evolution, creationism, and the quixotic nature of 'truth'"

Sat. April 4 2PM Paul Brinkman (North Caroline Museum) "Darwin's use of vertebrate fossil evidence to develop natural selection model"

Wed. April 8 11AM Gerald Smith (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) "Tectonic causes of fish species diversity patterns"

Sat. April 18 2PM David Weishampel (Johns Hopkins Univ., Maryland) "What about the dinosaurs, Charles Darwin?"

Sat. April 25 2PM Ted Daeschler (Academy of Natural Sciences, Pennsylvania) "Tiktaalik and the fish-tetrapod transition"

Sat. May 16 2PM Judith Scotchmoor (University College of Berkeley, California) "Supporting the teaching of evolution: A multi-faceted approach"

Hope you can attend!

Darwin Day Celebration at Mount Royal College

2009-02-02T14:47:00.001-08:00

Darwin, Natural Selection and SEX: 150 years of getting it on. ( Public )

Date and Time: 2009-02-12 19:00:00

Activities:
Jay Ingram, host of Discovery Canada's Daily Planet and author is keynote speaker for:

"Darwin, Natural Selection and SEX: 150 years of getting it on."

Description of talk: Everyone knows that Charles Darwin transformed our sense of what it means to be human by showing that we evolved from non-human ancestors. But most
don't realize how far-reaching his ideas are. Much of modern dating and mating behaviour - from pick-up lines in a singles bar to long-term mate selection - can be shown to be the result of unconscious drives shaped by tens of thousands of years of evolution."

With special musical guests and an introduction from Darwin himself!

Address:

Sponsor:

Contact:

January Science Cafe

2009-01-19T17:13:00.001-08:00

The University of Calgary and TELUS World of Science presents the January Science Cafe: Darwin's Origin of Species - "200 Years and Still Evolving?". Dr. Marc Ereshefsky (Dept. of Philosophy) and Dr. Jessica Theodor (Dept. of Biological Sciences) as well as special guest Dr. William Cade of the University of Lethbridge will be discussing the evolution of Darwin's theory over the past 150 years. It's being held on Tuesday, January 27 at The Brickyard (213 10th Ave SW) from 6:30-8:30. Seating is limited, so get there early if you don't want to be standing in the back.

States and Countries visited

2009-01-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

My friend Julia over at the Ethical Palaeontologist http://www.ethicalpalaeontologist.com/ posted the map of states she's visited and challenged us to do the same. So here's mine.

I've been to airports in California and Washington, but I don't really think that airports should count, so I've left them out. I was born in Georgia and only lived there for the first 9 months of my life, but that counts, right? : )

My international map is pathetic. Other than North America I've only been to South Korea. I'm looking forward to adding England to it this September while at SVP.

Now it's your turn. http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-17T21:24:00.001-08:00

I'll be heading into Drumheller soon to spend the holidays with Darren and the kids and wanted to wish everyone happy, healthy, safe holidays. I'll see you all in 2009!

Congratulations!

2008-12-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to both Hillary Maddin and Robin Cuthbertson for recently passing their candidacy exams. They are both in the Russell Lab in the Biological Sciences Department of the University of Calgary. Way to go guys!! (Photos shamelessly stolen off of facebook).

2008-11-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder to all Calgary area paleos that we're meeting for all-you-can-eat sushi on Monday December 1st at Sushi BBQ on 16th Ave. Looking forward to seeing one and all!

Favorite dinosaur movie.

2008-11-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

Someone recently asked me what my favorite dinosaur movie was and I immediately answered "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms". They seemed disappointed and I later learned that they had no idea what I was talking about. That fact disappointed me because it's such a classic. Loosely based on a 1951 Ray Bradbury short story, the movie was released in 1953 with special effects by stop-action animation master Ray Harryhausen. Basically, a nuclear bomb test in the Arctic Circle awakens the Rhedosaurus, a quadrupedal partially-aquatic tail waver, who makes his (her?) way south to eventually rampage through New York City.

Don't ask me why buy my favorite part is when the beast attacks a lighthouse. Perhaps it's because it's done all in silhouette.The beast has a ball stomping cars and eating cops, but eventually must be killed. But I don't want to give the entire movie away, so I'll stop there. I highly recommend this movie because it's such fun. But I may be biased because I am a great fan of '50s "B" creature features and sci-fi movies. Try it! You won't be disappointed.

Wild animals in the field bandwagon

2008-11-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to jump on the bandwagon of posting some pics of wild animals I encountered while in the field. I thought you might find it interesting if I concentrated on the animals from my masters research at Little Fish Lake near Drumheller, Alberta. Little Fish Lake is a lacustrine site made up of an attritional assemblage that is punctuated by several episodes of mass mortalities. Well, more on that later as I am attempting to get it written up in 2-3 papers within the next year.

Anyway, while working on the beach my constant companions were the California Gulls who lived on the nearby island within the lake and kept me entertained. Once they figured out I wasn't going to feed them, they pretty much left me alone while keeping a sharp eye on me - in case I changed my mind. For several weeks, I had one (well, I think it was the same one) who would land about 4-5 feet from me and follow me around watching my every move. He'd cock his head at me and walk sideways whenever I walked towards him. If I got too close, he'd take off and hover over head while yelling at me. It was pretty funny.

My other constant companions were the midges (hope you can see them in the pic) and the sand flies. The midges weren't too bad because they don't bite, but they swarm around your head buzzing in a high pitched fashion that could drive one insane. The sand flies, on the other hand, made me want to destroy all insect-kind. I tried everything while out there - deet, lavender scents, Avon Skin-so-soft, bandanas, etc. - until I couldn't take it any more and ended up wearing a mosquito-net hat to keep the little buggers from chewing my ears and throat above my collar to bits. I will admit to a gleeful fit of vengence one day that included hairspray and a lighter...

Since it is a lake (even though while I was working there the water depth was a mere 1-6 inches at any time), there were tons of birds there. At one time or another I saw virtually every type of waterfowl that is native to the area migrating through as well as shorebirds, raptors, song birds, and the odd White Pelican. I've included a pic of a Piping Plover nest that Darren found one day while out prospecting. Since the Plover is endangered, Alberta Fish and Wildlife patrol the beach during the nesting period and cage off the nests. The cage is large enough to let the Plovers through, but small enough to keep out the main predators such as Coyotes, cats and Gulls. I had to be very careful to watch for the Plovers and had they been spotted, abandon my research until the hatchlings were gone, but I never did see them. Darren took this pic and I didn't even know where the nest was until much later in the summer.

Some of the things that surprised me most were the tracks and traces found on the beach of the local animal-life that I never actually saw. This pic is of porcupine tracks that I found on the beach one morning. Other than these tracks and some very chewed branches of the trees, I never saw a porcupine there. I also saw Coyote tracks virtually every day and heard them yipping back and forth at night, but never caught sight of one. I woke one morning (I was living in a holiday trailer in the nearly always empty campground) to find Moose tracks outside my camp and am not quite sure where the big guy went after he passed.

I was lucky enough to have a multitude of animals that were visible like the fox I glimpsed one day while walking down to my site, lots of Jackrabbits and Cottontails living near camp, and White-Tailed and Mule Deer walking through the campground in the early evenings. My absolute favorite was the Long-tailed Prairie Weasel who lived in my wood pile and would come out sniffing for the ever present mice who seemed to enjoy living in the walls of my trailer and in the engine compartment of my car. The Weasel was sleek and quick and always seemed to know when I didn't have a camera handy.

Working at Little Fish Lake was quite the experience. I was a bit concerned when I first got out there as a woman alone in the field, but soon realized that the worst of my worries was trying to figure out how the damn moths kept getting into the trailer and committing sepukku (apologies for the spelling) into my candles at night. Or maybe how I should handle the mouse that crawled into the walls of the trailer and promptly died. Phew! What a stench! But it's also a time alone that I treasure when I learned alot about the site of my masters work and about myself. : )

November all ready?

2008-11-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

The DRI dinner was last night and a lot of fun! It went very quickly for me which may have had something to do with the combination of Tylenol non-drowsy sinus medication (I can't seem to kick the SVP creeping crud) and two quick Smirnov Ice's. There was an excellent turn-out and everyone seemed to have a good time. Personally, I was happy that the skull cut-outs that I made were so well received. "Hunh?" you say. We decided this year to use paper cut-outs of dinosaur skulls to determine the length of tickets that you could buy for the raffle. So for $5 you got tickets that measured the length of an ornithomimid skull, for $10 it was a Centrosaurus skull and for $20 it was twice the length of an Albertosaurus skull. And now I realize that I didn't take any pictures of the skulls on display! Damn those yummy Smirnov Ices! Anyway, they were a hit and I was much relieved. I was also relieved that the Calgary Flames jersey that I donated (after winning it at a raffle earlier this year) went for quite a bit in the silent auction. Yay! The auction had all kinds of really cool goodies in it this year including an original painting by Michael Skrepnick (who also is fighting the SVP cold), a really beautiful Ammolite necklace, an autographed copy of Judy (Horan) Williams dinosaur book, and a guided tour of the Burgess Shale, among lots of other cool things.

The dinner itself was delicious and we were treated to short talks by Victoria Arbour and Derek Larson of the University of Alberta who updated everyone on the latest results of their research. After dessert, Dr. Phil Currie of the University of Alberta gave a longer talk on the latest dinosaur discoveries from Western Canada. We were also treated by the presence of Dr. Michael Ryan who was visiting from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The night was a success and I'm all ready looking forward to next years gathering. : )

DRI annual dinner and auction

2008-10-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Dinosaur Research Institute's (DRI) annual fundraising dinner will be held on Saturday, November 1st at 6PM at the Earl Grey Country Club in Calgary. Reservations are required. For more information on the dinner, visit the DRI's website at http://www.dinosaurresearch.com/index.htm.

For those who haven't heard of the DRI, it's a non-profit organization that was started in 1997 to help fund dinosaur research in Alberta or to help Albertan palaeontologists conduct research elsewhere. In addition, there are several scholarships available for students including the Rene Vandervelde travel grant for those who are presenting at SVP (I know - a little late for this year, but keep it in mind for next year), two or three annual support scholarships for $1000-$3000, as well as the Neoceratopsian research scholarship started by Darren H. Tanke supporting research into... well... neoceratopsians. I'm sure I'll be posting more on this scholarship later since Darren is my significant other. : )

The DRI was very helpful to me a couple of years ago by funding radiocarbon dating for two specimens during my masters research (~$1400). Granted, the dates weren't for dinosaurs per se, but I'll be applying what I learned during that study to my current PhD project, which does include dinosaurs. Considering I eventually had 20 specimens dated (at from $700 to $900 a pop!), the DRI scholarship was much appreciated.

The annual dinner also includes a silent auction and presentation by Dr. Philip J. Currie. This years theme is "Recent dinosaur discoveries in Western Canada" and I've heard that some special guests will be there, but I don't want to give the surprise away. It's always a good time and I encourage anyone who is in the area to contact the DRI to see if there are any tickets left.

Tyrrell Turtle Symposium

2008-10-20T18:34:00.001-07:00

The rumors are true! Don Brinkman is going to host a turtle fest October 17-18, 2009 at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller. The symposium is in honor of Gene Gaffney's extensive contribution to the study of fossil turtles. They anticipate 50 oral and poster presentations and the keynote speakers are Richard Moody and Robert Carroll. Gene Gaffney will also be speaking. For more information, visit the Tyrrell's website at http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/events/turtlesymp09.php.

New Monograph published

2008-10-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the new Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai monograph is available through the NRC Press in Ottawa at http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/books/books/9780660198194.html. It's $50 plus shipping, but is hard bound with forward by Scott Sampson, a 108 page description of the new species by Phil Currie, Wann Langston and Darren Tanke, a brief description of taphonomy and mapping by myself and Darren Tanke (including a cool fold-out map of the quarry), and lots of figures of one of the braincases in 3D by Larry Witmer and Ryan Ridgely. Enjoy!

SVP in Cleveland

2008-09-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

Hope to see everybody there!

Ray Troll Paleoartist Extraordinare!

2008-03-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Ray Troll will be giving a talk at the U of C (room ES162) on Friday, March 14 at 4PM. He's an amazing artist and it should be an interesting talk. Hope to see you all there!

UAPS symposium

2008-02-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

Royal Tyrrell Museum on YouTube

2008-01-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

If you weren't aware, the Tyrrell Museum has started posting videos on their own channel on YouTube. Here is the latest installment. Enjoy!

Grant eligibility expiry dates

2007-12-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

This only ends up being a problem if you spend a really long time in grad school, but it is something everyone should be aware of. It's tucked away in the fine print, so go hunting for it... It's always a good idea to be fully informed.

Granting agencies impose expiry dates on your eligibility, depending on how long you've been in the post-secondary system. For example, because I spent so many years (many longer than I ever wanted to) in grad school, in my last year of the Ph.D. program I was no longer eligible to apply for NSERC post-doc funding, even if I had been 'excellent' by their misguided standards.

Excited to be a part of AVPA, and some contexualization

2007-12-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

Kudos to those who set this in motion, and thanks to Kirsten for setting up the blog.
It was a pleasure to 'represent' the non-student Alberta vert-palaeo community at the first AVPA meeting - this group definitely has a lot of potential, and I'm excited to be part of it!

Many interesting topics came up during the discussions, and there is certainly no shortage of ideas out there. I'm sure everyone will agree that it is to our advantage if all members approach this with professionalism, maturity, and mutual respect.

One thing I will suggest is that the group be focused on keeping our community connected and discussing our respective research at these meetings than to make the meetings a vehicle for 'how to' seminars. This is especially relevant if we want to bring in more non-student members. The one exception was the proposal to have a session on scientific illustration, as this is not something readily available at most institutions but is of great value to us all (especially those of us that lack that natural talent :) ).

Sessions on how to write grants, for example, are available through the institution in which students are registered, and agencies like NSERC will often do an information seminar at the universities prior to the application deadline.

Some words of caution with regards to grant applications; yes, I'm bitter, but with good reason. This is the part where I share some of my 'when I was a student' stories, and some current ones too, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. Context is an important part of the big picture, and even though our research is often very focused, the big picture should always be kept in mind. As I said at the meeting, fundamentally I'm not 'negative', I'm realistic, and skeptical. "Pessimists are just optimists in full possession of all the facts" (a brilliant statement posted on the door of my second-to-last office in UC Geo, courtesy of Dr. Jon Jones).

My experience has been (and this has been supported by the information presented by various funding institutions in information seminars that I've attended over the years) that you can spend a whole lot of time, energy, and money, with no return. Fundamentally it all comes down to 'eligibility' versus 'competitiveness', and competitiveness is assessed by the agencies' definition of 'excellence'. Agencies like NSERC and AB Ingenuity openly list their 'excellence' criteria on their websites. Unfortunately that definition is extremely narrow and short-sighted. If you've been able to get funding in the past and have published lots, then you stand to be fairly competitive. At the M.Sc. level, part of that definition includes your undergrad grades. And grades are taken into consideration for the Ph.D. grants as well. My beef with this is that your grades do not necessarily reflect your capacity for 'excellence'. As an educator, I KNOW that exams are a terrible way of assessing student comprehension and ability, which means that grades and GPAs may not truly reflect the potential of a person (something I knew as a student as well). But it's a slippery slope. If your grades knock you out of competition early in the game, then the chances of future success with grant applications diminishes greatly. Without funding (not everyone was/is fortunate enough to have supervisors that have the capability of supporting their students if grant applications are unsuccessful), one usually ends up having to work/teach to support both research and life, and as a result of the time limitations, one ends up being less 'productive' and therefore not competitive. Being 'productive' is fairly easy for the 'haves', but very difficult for the 'have nots'.

Recently I attended a seminar given by Guy Levesque, Manager of NSERC Prairies, on building research capacity at Mount Royal College (as we are on the road to becoming a degree-granting institution), in which he outlined NSERC's programs. Some interesting points were raised. MRC is a dedicated undergraduate institution, and will remain so. Therefore most of the faculty carry quite a heavy teaching load, and have less time available to spend on research. Especially if they want any sort of life balance (which should be just as important as 'productivity', if not more important). However, research still gets done. Nonetheless, Guy actually said that "If you're restricted to doing your research after 5 pm, then you're not dedicated to research". That's a load of baloney, and stems from that narrow-minded definition of 'excellence'. If you haven't read the following paper, then I highly recommend it (perhaps it could be a topic for discussion at our next meeting?). Success as assessed by 'impact factor' is the worst thing that has happened to scientific research.

The mismeasurement of science.

Current Biology, Volume 17, Issue 15, Pages R583-R585

P. Lawrence

We all know that LOTS of crap gets published, even in the misguidedly revered journals like Science and Nature. But we dream of publishing in those journals nonetheless, because they can make or break a career because of their 'impact factor'.

I asked Guy about the fundamental catch-22 ('haves' vs. 'have nots' and the measure of 'excellence'), and he glibly talked around the issue without actually addressing my question directly. These guys are smooth talkers... And he did the same thing when asked if NSERC would have a bias based on an applicant's institution. He said no, but soon after made the 'not dedicated to research' comment. Ultimately the point of the seminar was that college faculty could be competitive for the college-level grant programs (which are mostly industrial and geared towards pushing a product to market), but once we become a university, we are really not competitive for that level of grants (like Discovery Grants and such). So most of us concluded that it wouldn't be worth the time and effort to go for NSERC grants when we become a university, because it would be time wasted and better dedicated to doing something more productive (in the true sense of the word). It comes down to a cost vs. benefit analysis...

There are other sources of funding out there, but just as with NSERC etc., 'eligibility' and 'competitiveness' are big factors. Not to mention who reviews your application, and what your area of study is. Basically ust like the situation you face when attempting to publish your work - who reviews your paper makes a huge impact on whether it gets published or not. Peer review is a good thing, in principle, but we all know that UNBIASED peer review is something rare... Good science is often dismissed because of a reviewer's (or editor's) personal preconceptions, biases, agenda, and sometimes downright pettiness (ie. if it's not what they think, then it has to be wrong). A few of us AVPA members have been stung by that one a few times...

In terms of other funding, Petro-Canada, for example, has a Young Innovator's research award ($25000 this year - up $10000 for next year). Mount Royal College, surprisingly enough, is one of the eligible institutions. The catch is that you have to be tenured/tenurable to apply, meaning part-timers/sessionals like me, despite being just as qualified as full-timers, are out of the running before the race even starts. So the college is pushing to enhance its research programs, but basically underutilizes its available expertise because of the job ranking system. Part-timers, apparently, are not guaranteed to stick around for the duration of the research project. Huh? First, most sessionals (at least in my department), have been teaching as sessionals for many years (some up to 7 years). What do you mean we don't stick around? We're not full-timers because there aren't that many full-time positions, not because we don't qualify. And if we got a grant like that, don't you think that would be incentive to stick around, sessional or not? Believe me, leaving the college to go to a bigger institution is not necessarily appealing - why would you give up teaching small classes? My time teaching large classes was one of the worst experiences of my life! And very few university appointments come without some sort of teaching load...

Ironically, a summary of my research plan was submitted to the college's Director of the Institute for Applied Scientific Research. The 'Foundation' sent out a call for project ideas to pitch to potential financial sponsors, which was passed on by the Geology Coordinator (who, thankfully, does not dismiss my research potential because of my 'part-time' status). The Director was intrigued by my research description (don't know if she knew I was a sessional at the time), and has invited me to be the January speaker for the college's Research in Progress Seminar Series... Amazing how a seven bullet-point research summary can be considered to be interesting and have potential. And yet, I can't apply for the Petro-Can award because I'm a 'part-timer' (a fact which I did mention to her), and I'm not 'excellent' by NSERC standards...

Now, admittedly I've had a harder time with all this stuff than most people do, which fundamentally demonstrates my potential for 'excellence'. A point I'm going to make to NSERC Prairies and the college administratorsI'm still in the game, after all. Just think what I could do if I actually had research support!!

The last thing I want to mention is that the 'mismeasurement of science' paper barely made a ripple, which is both pathetic and revealing at the same time. We need to spread the word! I want to make that paper and the book "Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis" (2007, published by University of Toronto Press by two profs from Western) mandatory reading for all potential and current students, faculty, administrators, and the parents of potential students, with discussions to follow. It's prime time for a reality check in academia... Welcome to the 21st Century, people!! And it's up to us younger members of academe to lead the way. Most of the old guard have worn bum-prints with their fat asses into their 'lofty' seats in the old boy's club of the traditional ivory tower, and they won't willingly get out because it's so 'comfy'.

So here's to the AVPA!

The First Meeting of the AVPA

2007-11-28T22:52:00.000-08:00

The first genereal meeting of the AVPA was held Saturday, November 24th at the Toad 'n' Turtle Pub in Red Deer. From Edmonton, Michael J, Michael B, Miriam R and Robin S were present, and from Calgary, Caleb B, Kirstin B, Brendon S, Tanya S and Nick L. Amongst all the lollygagging and merrymaking, plans for the future of the association were discussed and are summarized below:

- We will form a master e-mail list for all those wishing to be involved in the association.
- We are looking for alternate suggestions to the motto 'It's Never Too Dead'
- We are aiming to hold another meeting in a similar informal pub type settting in the new year, with a focus on discussing our current research. The aim is to have more of a dialogue about our work, rather than a monologue.
- We hope to include professors and researchers from the Tyrrell Museum, if interested.
- We hope to have field trips on weekends whenever possible, probably in Dry Island as it is central to Edmonton and Calgary.
- We hope to hold workshops at both universities and the Tyrrell on subjects yet to be determined.
- We hope to get together for dinner after the APS and UAPS symposia.
- We hope to start a blog on which everyone may post ideas, opinions and suggestions. (Check!)

If you wish to post on this blog, let me (Kirstin) know and I will add you as a contributor. If you have any suggestions on the appearance of the blog, post!

Kirstin