2015: Comings and Goings

The end of the year is always a good time for reflecting on recent accomplishments - especially since I am writing the Sternberg Museum Paleontology Department's annual report. 2015 was a great year for paleontology at the Museum, with exciting plans on the horizon.  

New Programs

We continued established traditions like celebrating National Fossil Day (October), and added new annual programs like Penguin Awareness Day (January) and Darwin Day (February).  Our attendance numbers for these events are growing, showing that we are reaching more and more people with science education.  Perhaps rather selfishly, these events also allow me to celebrate things I'm passionate about: the history of science, evolutionary theory, the importance of preserving and studying fossils, and cute penguin pictures. Over the summer, Sternberg Museum Education Director David Levering led a tremendously successful second year of summer science camps.  Paleontology continues to play a large role in the elementary, junior high, and high school camps. 

New Exhibits

In April of 2015 we also had the excitement of opening a new permanent exhibit in our main exhibit gallery. "Bringing Fossils To Life" is an engaging exhibit pairing living organisms with fossil counterparts to teach various aspects of evolutionary theory.  Fossil tortoises are exhibited with living African spurred-thigh tortoises to demonstrate evolutionary stasis; living sassafras trees are paired with fossil leaves that were originally (mis)identified as sassafras to demonstrate convergent evolution; a fossil mosasaur from Kansas is compared to a living Merten's Water Monitor to illustrate functional morphology; and we have live salamanders and mudskippers displayed with fossils salamanders to explain how animals transitioned from water to land.  The mudskippers are pretty damn cool.

The Museum also hosted "Titanoboa: Monster Snake" as our summer traveling exhibit. Titanoboa was a 60 million year old, 48 foot long fossil snake found in Columbia.  The excellent, and very well received exhibit details the story of the discovery of the fossil and what we have learned by studying this beast's fossil remains and ecosystem.   

New Science

As always, new science made headlines for the paleontology program at the Sternberg Museum and Fort Hays State University.  My students and I attended multiple conferences where we had the opportunity to present novel research to the scientific community. Seven graduate students and I drove to Pittsburg, Kansas for the Kansas Academy of Science annual meeting, where six of us gave presentations. Adjunct Curator of Paleontology Michael Everhart was the 2015 president of KAS and put on a fantastic conference (as well as gave a talk). Two of my students successfully defended their MS theses over the summer, and I had the opportunity to present new pterosaur histology research at the International Symposium on Paleohistology in Bonn, Germany.  We rounded out the year of conferences by attending the 75th annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Dallas, Texas. A huge contingency from FHSU showed up, with many of us presenting research. Recent MS graduate Makenzie Kirchner-Smith and I gave talks.  Mike Everhart presented a poster. Recent grad Josh Fry and finishing MS students Kelsie Abrums and Melissa Macias presented posters, along with current MS students Tom Buskuskie, Logan King, and Patrick Wilson. Recently hired (and finishing FHSU grad student) Outreach Coordinator Ian Trevethan also presented a poster. Four first year graduate students (Cyrus Green, Mariah Towell, Jessica Barnett, and Darrah Jorgensen), two undergraduate students (Kris Super and Ted Vlamis), and David Levering attended, as well.

My students and I also had several opportunities to get outside during the spring, summer, and fall of 2015 and dig up some fossils! Excavations recovered fossils from Cretaceous, Miocene, and Pleistocene deposits of western Kansas. Additionally, Darrah and I were able to work with David Levering and his High School Paleontology Camp to teach paleontology excavation techniques.

So what's new for 2016?

Let's just say I'm extremely excited for what we have planned for our headlining events of 2016 so far.  In addition to continued programming like Penguin Awareness Day, Darwin Day, and National Fossil Day, we will be heading up a new capital campaign. The main campaign goal for the paleontology program at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History is to build a new paleo prep lab. This includes renovating and expanding the current lab, creating new research space, improving health and safety conditions for our preparators, and updating equipment.  Our goal is high ($150,000), but we're excited about the project and the potential for increased paleontology opportunities for students, visitors, volunteers, and scientific research.

World famous paleontologist Dr. Jack Horner from the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana will be visiting us in April to help with our fundraising efforts. In addition to decades of scientific innovation and education, Jack is also the technical advisor for the Jurassic Park movies. So keep a look out for news about Jack's visit, public talk, and the first annual Sternberg Museum Spring Gala! (And let me know if you would like more information about the fundraising campaign!)

2015 was a huge success and we expect even more excitement in 2016. We hope to see you at the Museum!

Laura Wilson

Curator of Paleontology

National Fossil Day 2014

On Wednesday, October 15th, the United States is celebrating National Fossil Day. And the Sternberg Museum is joining in the fun! 

National Fossil Day is a day museums, organizations, institutions, government agencies, and other groups dedicate to educating the public on the importance of preserving and understanding fossils.  To this end, the Sternberg is extending their hours and opening their doors free of charge to offer special fossil-focused programs from 9:00am to 9:00pm. We invite kids, adults, families, and students of all ages to come celebrate and learn about the fossil resources of Kansas! Including our two newly appointed State Fossils: Tylosaurus and Pteranodon!

The day's events include:

•        All Day: Free admission to our exhibits and special programming

•        9:00am – 2:30pm: K-12 school groups touring special exhibits** (see note at bottom of post) 

o   Student groups will visit special exhibits set up around the Museum focusing on how and why we study fossils. Topics include how we dig up and clean fossils, how bones and animals grow, how we can tells males from females in the fossil record, and how skeletons relate to how animals lived their lives.

•      4:00pm – 6:00pm: Fossil ID, Gallery Tours, Post Rock Carving 

o   Post Rock quarrying demo (in Museum parking lot)
o   “Post Rock Country” book signing by author Brad Penka

o   Guided tours of fossil gallery (tours at 4pm and 5pm)

o  Guided tours of zoology and paleontology collections (tours at 4pm and 5pm)

o   Bring in your rocks and fossils for identification by Museum scientists

•       7:00pm – 9:00pm: Scientific Presentations and Discovery Room Activities 

o   These talks will be given by Fort Hays State University graduate students studying fossils in the Sternberg Museum paleontology collections.

§  7:00pm: Ian Trevethan, Mosasaur thermoregulation

§  7:30pm: Mackenzie Kirchner-Smith, Hesperornis and diving bird foot morphology

§  8:00pm: Thomas Buskuskie, Dinosaurs of Kansas

§  8:30pm: Kelsie Abrams, Teleoceras rhinoceros ecology and diet

o   The Discovery Room will be open for kids and families so patrons of all ages can enjoy the Museum!

As always, the overarching theme of National Fossil Day is education. This year, we are not only providing a variety of educational experiences to the public, but are showcasing several educational partnerships within our community. Students from Quinter High School will be talking about their experience digging up a Mosasaur with the Museum. Post Rock Country events will get the community involved exploring the bridge between Kansas's natural history and cultural history. FHSU Department of Geoscience graduate students are presenting their research on Museum fossils. And we are celebrating the newly named State Fossils of Kansas, legislature that results from the work of Kansas museums, patrons, and fossil hunters. 

Come join in the fun as we learn about Kansas natural history!

**If you are interested in your child’s class attending National Fossil Day events, have his/her teacher contact Education Director David Levering (dalevering@fhsu.edu).**

Just another mosasaur dig?

Few things are more rewarding for an educator than the opportunity to work with a group of excited, engaged students - whether the students are children, teens, young adults, or mature adults. Having the opportunity to take a hands-on approach to education in the field is the cherry on top.  Over the past few weeks, Sternberg Museum staff have had the wonderful opportunity to work with local high school students on a mosasaur dig in Western Kansas.  Two students from the Quinter High School advanced biology class contacted me for instructions on how to safely and properly excavate a mosasaur fossil. They were working on a capstone research project for their class. After some discussion of techniques and equipment, we decided to join forces and dig together.  This way, we could provide hands-on instruction on proper collection techniques, and continue discussions on the importance of data collection and scientific research.  After contacting the landowners for permission to excavate and arrange for the specimen to be donated to the Museum, Museum staff - including myself (Sternberg paleontologist), David Levering (Sternberg education director), and Dr. Reese Barrick (Sternberg director) - joined a group of high school biology students and their teacher to begin field work.

Through the months of April and May, professionals, educators, high school students, graduate students, and local land owners all pitched in to excavate a partial Tylosaurus skeleton from the lower Smoky Hill Chalk of Gove County, Kansas. It didn't take long for the quarry to turn into an outdoor classroom as we talked about everything from the geologic history of Western Kansas to the skeletal anatomy of mosasaurs to different excavation techniques (including a few impromptu physics lessons as we figured out how to get a 1000 lb jacket into a truck bed). Ultimately, our classroom provided first dig experiences, a science project for two advanced biology students, a gathering point for ranchers around the area to drop by and see what was going on (lawn chairs and grills included!), and a launch pad for future student research and community collaborations.  Local media outlets also helped spread our story.

The jacket containing the fossil mosasaur getting fork lifted
to its new home in our prep lab at the Sternberg Museum.

Despite holiday weekends, exam schedules, a very heavy jacket, and a very old truck, the mosasaur skeleton was safely removed from the ground and transported to its new home at the Sternberg Museum.  Where our story continues into the future. Thanks to new connections and sparked interest, we have the opportunity to continue to use this fossil to work with local students. Through the course of the summer (and however long it takes after that), students will be volunteering at the Museum as we teach them how to prep, curate, and study fossils. This mosasaur specimen will be the first fossil used to teach a new generation of students interested in paleontology and natural history.

Of course, not all students are looking to build a career in the field of paleontology (talk about a flooded job market!), but it is the core mission of natural history museums to instill an interest in and understanding of science.  We strive to encourage people to ask and answer questions about the world around them and figure out ways to solve problems. We aim to build a respect for the knowledge and advancements that scientific research, engineering, and technology can provide. I like to think that by giving students of all ages hands-on experiences exploring what science is and why it's important, we are leaving them better equipped to shoulder the responsibility for our future.

A crew including Sternberg Museum paleontologist, Sternberg Museum education director, Fort Hays State graduate students, Quinter High School biology teacher, Quinter High School biology students, and our fantastic land owners! May 2014

-- Dr. Laura E. Wilson

   Curator of Paleontology

   Sternberg Museum of Natural History

And all with only one truck snafu (this is par for the course for me...)

Celebrating Kansas's new state fossils at the Sternberg Museum!

Tylosaurus (top) and Pteranodon (bottom) fossils on
displayat the Sternberg Museum of Natural History
in Hays, Kansas.

Last month, the Kansas legislators passed a bill naming Pteranodon and Tylosaurus as the state fossils of Kansas.  Tomorrow, Wednesday April 23rd, Kansas governor Sam Brownback will visit the Sternberg Museum here in Hays for a ceremonial signing of the fossil bill. The bill was formally signed into law on April 4th, but Governor Brownback and supporters of the bill felt it appropriate for the ceremony of formally recognizing state fossils to be held at the Sternberg Museum. The Governor will be signing the bill at 3:30pm in the lobby of the Museum and the event is open to the public.

Prior to April 4th, Kansas was one of ten states in the union without a state fossil.  So to make up for lost time, we now have two.  Pteranodon and Tylosaurus are iconic Kansas fossils representing a time 85 million years ago when the state was covered by an inland sea that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. Pteranodon was one of the flying reptiles (pterosaurs) the lived along side dinosaurs throughout the Mesozoic Era (The Age of the Dinosaurs).  They were the first reptiles to evolve flight capabilities.  The fossils of these flying reptiles are found almost exclusively in the marine chalks and shales of western Kansas.  The Pteranodon has long been the symbol of the Sternberg Museum.  Tylosaurus is a group of mosasaurs - marine reptiles that dominated the oceans of the Mesozoic. They were powerful swimmers with mouths full of sharp teeth.  Both fossils are featured in the Chalk Bed Gallery at the Sternberg Museum.

Many members of the paleontology community in Kansas helped pushed the legislation forward. Sternberg Museum's own Adjunct Curator of Paleontology Mike Everhart testified before the legislators on behalf of the bill naming the state fossils. Local fossil hunter Alan Detrich pushed the bill forward, and students, fossil hunters, and paleontologists from across the state emailed and called in their support for the bill to state senators and congressmen.

All are welcome to come celebrate with us at 3:30pm on Wednesday April 23rd in the lobby of the Sternberg Museum for the ceremonial signing of the fossil bill by Governor Brownback.  Bring your kids, bring your friend, bring yourselves!

Crowdfunding Museum Education

The Sternberg Museum has launched a new fundraising campaign to help support our summer field programs for elementary, junior high, and high school students. Located in rural western Kansas, our museum has the opportunity to provide science education not only to the Hays, KS community, but all of western Kansas and the Central Great Plains region.  Traditionally the education department, with support from the rest of the Museum staff, organizes events at the Museum and in the community (including schools) around the region to provide educational programming to inquisitive minds of all age. We are now expanding our program to take students into the field to experience a hands-on, outdoors approach biology, geology, and paleontology.

Summer camps kick off in June 2014! There are day camps for elementary school students, overnight camps for junior high aged students, and 1-2 week long camps for high school students.  All the camps focus on local and regional biology, paleontology, and geology. They not only get students outside and exploring the environment, but also learning how to ask and answer scientific questions; these camps provide a great way for students to develop analytical skills they will take with them beyond school. There will also be some family-based programming, as well!

Fundraising is underway to help cover the initical costs of camping and field equiment needed to run the biology and paleontology field camps. Covering these costs through crowdfunding means that we can keep camp fees down for students.

Check out our RocketHub website for more information. Recent press coverage provides additional information about the camps, too.

As always, you can find Sternberg actives online!
http://sternberg.fhsu.edu/
http://sternberg.fhsu.edu/active-learning/camps/

You can also contact Education Director David Levering for more information:
DALevering @FHSU.edu

Please think about supporting the Sternberg Museum and our efforts to provide more, engaging science education for all ages!

National Fossil Day: Heading To A Museum Near You

In 2010, that National Park Service and over 270 supporting museums, institutions, and organizations celebrated the first National Fossil Day. National Fossil Day was established to promote the educational and scientific value of fossils, while celebrating this country's fossil resources. It falls on the third Wednesday in October during Earth Science Week - this year it is on Wednesday October 16, 2013. The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is putting on a day of activities and special programming for visitors of all ages in celebration.

On National Fossil Day - Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - the Sternberg Museum will be free of charge to all visitors.  We also have extended hours and will be open from 9 AM until 8 PM with a day packed full of special activities:

• 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM
• During the morning, we will be opening our doors to K-12 school groups from Hays and the surrounding area to come to the museum for special presentations.  Students will be able to explore the world of paleontology through a series of special exhibits set up around the museum paring fossil and live organisms.
• The museum will be open to the public at this time, but presentations will be geared towards the visiting school groups. 

• 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
• Join us for a special presentation by Adjunct Curator Mike Everhart on the new Cretaceous sea turtle fossil recently donated to the Museum. After Mike's presentation, we will have a small reception as we thank the Bird family who donated the fossil. 

• 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
• Doors are open to visitors of all ages to explore the Sternberg Museum.  We will have special exhibits and presentations set up around the museum.  These special exhibits will feature live and fossil animals to explain how paleontologists study how extinct animals evolved, moved, interacted with other animals, and interacted with their environment.

• 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
• We will be featuring a series of talks and panel discussions by Museum paleontologists and educators exploring different aspects of paleontology.
• 6:30 PM - Mike Everhart (Adjunct Curator of Paleontology), "The Sternberg Family Legacy"
• 7:00 PM - Dr. Laura Wilson (Curator of Paleontology), "A Bird's Eye View of the Western Interior Seaway"
• 7:30 PM - David Levering (Education Director), "Walking, Running, and Pouncing..."
• During this time, the Discovery Room will be open to kids of all ages with special fossil-related activities.

So join the Sternberg Museum on October 16th for National Fossil Day - and bring your friends and family!  Hope to see you there!

September Outreach with PBS

In the middle of September, the Sternberg Museum joined Smoky Hill Public Television (our local Western Kansas PBS station) in their Family Fun Day.  Amid the children dragging their parents to booths to play games for prizes and have their pictures taken with beloved PBS characters, the Museum was able to set up a table showcasing extinct and extant animals from Kansas. The live animals are always a hit, and our Hognose snake (Chubs), Great Plains Ratsnake (Buddy), Common Snapping Turtle (Jeffery - don't worry, kiddos, he doesn't snap!), and mice with pinkies were no exception. Snakes will always stir up a mixed reaction from people, but by bringing mice and explaining how fast mice can reproduce (every 30 days!), we can present a convincing argument for the importance of snakes in the ecosystem. Overall, I think most kids were more scared of Clifford the Big Red Dog than of Buddy and Chubs.

The fossils may not always take center stage when live reptiles and mammals are involved, but our smorgasbord of Kansas fossils demanded attention and raised excitement. Perhaps most impressively, we took a life-size skull cast of Megacephalosaurus - a pliosaur plesiosaur from the Carlile Shale of Western Kansas. (Of note, this fossil is also the Sternberg Museum's most recent holotype.  Check out the JVP article by Schumacher et al. from earlier this year.) With a name that means "big headed lizard", our skull cast was quite an attention-grabber. We also had skull casts of a nodosaur dinosaur from Kansas, as well as mammoth and mastodon fossils. The look on a child's face when you tell them they are touching a really fossil is inspiring.

Museum outreach and education is one of the most rewarding parts of being associated with a natural history museum. It is also one of the tenants justifying continued funding of museums. With educational programming geared at children, youth, and adults, the world is truly a student of science.  An informal set-up at a Family Day featuring glimpses into Kansas' past and present ecology and the chance to discuss science with people of all ages is just as important of an educational opportunity as more traditional classroom instruction. Having undergraduate and graduate students excited to help and educate out makes the experience even more valuable and educational.