#2013SVP

From October 30 to November 2, paleontologists from around the world came together for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting. Professors, curators, students, and other paleo aficionados descended upon the unsuspecting city of Los Angeles, California.  Conferences are always a fun and exciting mix of hot-off-the-press science, visiting with old friends, making new connections, developing new research projects, and late night schmoozing. 

This year, Fort Hays State University and the Sternberg Museum were well-represented by students, faculty, and staff. Seven graduate students from the Department of Geosciences attended SVP, including Kelsie Abrams, Tom Buskuskie, Josh Fry, Seth Hammond, Mackenzie Kirchner-Smith, Melissa Macias, and Ian Trevethan.  Undergraduate paleo student Jason Hughes and his guide dog, Indie, also joined the motley crew. Geosciences professor and Sternberg curator Dr. Laura Wilson, Sternberg education director David Levering, and Biological sciences professor Dr. Chris Bennett rounded out the Hays contingent.

Fort Hays State paleontologists at the LA County Museum welcome reception at SVP.
(L to R: Josh Fry, Melissa Macias, Ian Trevethan, Laura Wilson, Mackenzie Kirchner-Smith, Tom Buskuskie, Jason Hughes, Kelsie Abrams)

SVP conferences are filled with scientific talks by top minds in the field, followed by afternoon poster sessions for more discussions on new research.  Evenings allow for a time to take scientific conversations and catching up with friends into a more casual atmosphere. Many of us were there not only to learn, but to educate as well.  Ian presented a poster on preliminary results from his Master's project: "Thermoregulatory status of mosasaurs from the Western Interior Seaway of Kansas, USA". Mackenzie and Melissa both had poster presentations showcasing undergraduate research projects completed at Indiana University and UC Santa Barbara, respectively. In her research, Mackenzie used modern analogs to help study fossils. Her poster explained "Hind limb morphology of carnivorous birds: A morphometic analysis of prey preference and predatory techniques".  Melissa brought us into the world of giant ground sloths with a poster on "New Pleistocene megafauna localities in Santa Barbara County, California: Paleontological reconnaissance of the marine terrace deposits at Vandenberg Air Force Base."

David gave a talk on his Master's research from Oklahoma State University, "Of multituberculates and mass extinction: Evidence of selection for small body size within the Cimolodonta (Multituberculata) across the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction boundary, followed by morphospace recovery and expansion in the earliest Paleogene".  A mouthful, but an interesting look at body size change in a group of mammals during the extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs (or at least the dinosaurs that weren't birds).  Lastly, Dr. Bennett presented a poster on the enigmatic pterosaurs, "Reinterpretation of the wings of Pterodactylus antiquus based on the Vienna specimen".

Another noteworthy event at this year's conference was in the awards ceremony. Every year at the award's banquet that closes the conference, SVP gives out research grants and awards of recognition to students, paleo-artists, and professions alike. One of these is the Romer-Simpson Medal, "awarded for sustained and outstanding scholarly excellence in the discipline of Vertebrate Paleontology".  This is the society's highest award. This year's Romer-Simpson medal was awarded to Dr. Jack Horner, Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. This hits particularly close to home because Jack was Dr. Laura Wilson Master's advisor and mentor since entering the field of paleontology. Laura and her students (technically, Jack's grand-students) have a huge legacy to live up to and pass on to the next generation of scientists. 

Dr. Jack Horner with some of his former and current students after receiving the Romer-Simpson Medal at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting.

Between presentations on cutting edge science, discussions with colleagues, student recruitment, catching up with old friends, making new friends, gorging on ethnic food, and visiting local museums, SVP 2013 was a successful meeting for all! I hope everyone is starting to save for SVP 2014 in Berlin, Germany!