Founders Symposium 2003
Volcanoes, Camels & Carnivores: The Eocene/Oligocene Story
March 29 & 30, 2003
A major bollide impacts the Earth. Huge volcanic eruptions occur in western North America. Australia and Antarctica split apart. Antarctica becomes isolated from warm currents and extensive glaciations begin in the southern continent. This dramatic series of geologic events led to the greatest single drop in Cenozoic global temperature during the transition between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs. The Earth cooled from the greenhouse world to the beginnings of our modern icebox world. Marine life and land plants were greatly affected. Yet, North American mammals showed little change across this climatic transition. Our 2003 symposium featured over a dozen paleontologists and geologists and several workshops about the flora, fauna and geology of this fascinating transitional time.
2003 Saturday Speakers
Emmett Evanoff, Ph.D.
University of Colorado Museum
Geologic Events Across the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary: The Roots of the Change from a Greenhouse World to an Icebox World
Edwin Larson, Ph.D.
University of Colorado, Boulder
Volcanic Activity in the Western United States and Mexico during the Latest Eocene Through the Oligocene
Elizabeth A. Nesbitt, Ph.D.
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
The Eocene-Oligocene Boundary in the Marine Realm
Herbert Meyer, Ph.D.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Changes in the Vegetation, Forest Composition and Elevation During the Eocene-Oligocene Transition
Steven R. Manchester, Ph.D.
University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History
Fossil Flora of the Green River Formation in Comparison with Other Eocene Lakewide Vegetation of the Northern Hemisphere
Carrie L. Herbel
Museum of Geology, South Dakota School of Mines
Hidden Collection Leads to Opportunity to Flesh out the Little Known Whitneyan Land Mammal Age in the Northern Great Plains
Robert M. Chandler, Ph.D.
Georgia College & State University
The Eocene-Oligocene Global Avifauna
Louis Taylor, Ph.D.
Western Interior Paleontological Society
Moderator
2003 Sunday Speakers
Kirk R. Johnson, Ph.D.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
An Overview of the Fossil Plants of the Green River Formation from Colorado and Utah
Thomas Steven, Ph.D.
U.S. Geological Survey Emeritus
Ancient Lake Creede: A Cautionary Tale
William Weber, Ph.D.
University of Colorado
T.D.A. Cockerell at Florissant
Russell W. Graham, Ph.D.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The White River Group, Facies Taphonomy at Bones Galore, Weld County, Colorado
2003 Workshops
Florissant Formation Workshop
Jeff Wolin
National Park Service
Virtual Tour of Florissant Fossil Beds N.M.
Sally McCracken-Maertens
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Florissant Landmarks
Herb Meyer, Ph.D.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
The Fossils of Florissant
Robert Chandler, Ph.D.
Georgia College & State University
A Review of the Late Eocene Fossils Birds of Florissant, Colorado
Bill Dexter, Ph.D.
Friends of Florissant Fossil Beds
A Glimpse into the Magnitude of Time and Distance: A Florissant Perspective
Steven Veatch
Friends of Florissant
Princeton Expedition of 1877
G. David Atkins
Friend of Florissant
Samuel Hubbard Scudder (1837-1911)
Marilyn R. Callan
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Cultural/Human History in the Florissant Valley & Adeline Hornbek: The Homestead Epoch
Steven Veatch
Friends of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Living Archaeology of the Florissant Area: Culturally Scarred Trees are Legacy of Ute Tribe
Green River Formation Workshop
Brent Breithaupt, Ph.D.
University of Wyoming Geological Museum
The Oldest Bat Skeletons, Unique Birds Remains, and Wyoming’s State Fossil: A History of Discoveries within the Green River Formation of Western Wyoming
Steven Manchester, Ph.D.
University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History
Name that Reproductive Organ
Rich Barclay
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The Green River Atlas Project: Deciphering the Floral Diversity of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation
Conrad Labandeira, Ph.D.
National Museum of Natural History
Green River Insect Fauna; Preliminary Results from the Piceance Creek Basin
White River Formation Workshop
Tom Nolan
Western Interior Paleontological Society
Introduction
Carrie L. Herbel
Museum of Geology, South Dakota School of Mines
Bone Bed Surveys in Badlands National Park: Revisiting the Scenic Member, Brulee Formation, White River Group
Michael T. Greenwald
Badlands National Park
I’d Crawl a Mile for a Micro-Fauna: White River Group’s Hidden Treasures Les Robinette
Western Interior Paleontological Society
Collecting White River Vertebrates
Emmett Evanoff, Ph.D.
University of Colorado Museum
Stratigraphy and Origin of the White River Sequence of the Great Plains and Central Rocky Mountains
Eocene/Oligocene Perspectives Workshop
Peter Houde, Ph.D.
New Mexico State University
The Confusing Fossil Birds of the Cenozoic
Dena Meade-Hunter
Western Interior Paleontological Society
Morphotyping Fossil Floras Using Leaf Architectural Characteristics
Howard Emry
Western Interior Paleontological Society
Collecting Fossil Plants at Creede, Colorado
John Warme, Ph.D.
Colorado School of Mines
Extraterrestrial Impacts Near the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary and the Enigma of Delayed Extinctions
“How To” Workshops
Jean-Pierre Cavigelli
Western Paleo (Wyoming)
Reassembling/Preparing Fossils
Bill Mason
Uncommon Conglomerates
Repairing Fossils
John Scandizzo, Larry Oliveria
Paleo-Ed Institute
Molding/Casting Fossils
Jerry Suchan, Ph.D.
Western Interior Paleontological Society
Photographing Fossils