FHSU Paleontology Student Scholars

On April 30, 2014, Fort Hays State University students and faculty participated in the 10th annual Scholarly and Creative Activity Day (SACAD) held on campus. This event showcases research undertaken by members of the FHSU community across all colleges and departments. The FHSU Department of Geosciences has a very strong history of participation and award-winning at this event. The 2014 SACAD was particularly special, as it marks a change in the name of the event to the John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Day. It was renamed in remembrance of the late chair of the Department of Geosciences, who passed away in January of this year.  

Kelsie Abrams, second place for "Preparation of
Teleoceras fossiger teeth for dental microware analysis".

Over a dozen and a half undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Geosciences presented posters at SACAD on original research, highlighting a variety of geology and geography topics. Five of these students are currently studying paleontology at FHSU. First year graduate student Melissa Macias is studying sloth migration across the Caribbean from South America and North America using a cool GIS application (PaleoGIS). First year graduate student Tom Buskuskie described new Niobrarasaurus dinosaur material from the Smoky Hill Chalk of the Niobrara Formation recently donated to the Sternberg Museum. First year graduate student Mackenzie Kirchner-Smith presented her finding on sexual dimorphism on the tarsometatarsi in pheasants using 3D geometric morphometrics (and the 3D scanner at Forsyth Library). Second year graduate student Kelsie Abrams presented her preliminary results on a microwear study of Teleoceras rhinoceros teeth from Kansas housed at the Sternberg Museum. Representing some undergraduate research, senior Jason Hughes showcased his project looking at comparative taphonomy between two Teleoceras quarries from Western Kansas (also based on specimens at the Sternberg Museum). As Jason is blind, his project focused on the application of using tactile markers to characterize the taphonomy of individual bones. 

Tom Buskuskie, second place for "New dinosaur material
from the Niobrara Formation assigned to Niobrarasaurus
coleii (Thyreophora, Ankylosauria)".

Overall, SACAD was a great day for creativity at FHSU, scholarship in Geosciences, and continuing excellence in paleontology research. To cap the day, Kelsie and Tom tied for second place for best graduate student presentations. These undergraduate and graduate students are setting the bar high for research at FHSU!  Congratuations to all who participated!