Monthly Archives: May 2011

Testosterone-fueled field truck

Posted on May 30, 2011 by altondooley

Shortly after returning from the SeAVP meeting, I traded in my Toyota Tacoma for a Ford F150 (this is my truck, not the museum’s). I’d had the Tacoma (below, at Carmel Church) for about 2 years and was overall fairly pleased … Continue reading →

Posted in Paleontological techniques | 2 Comments

Virginia Academy of Science meeting

Posted on May 26, 2011 by altondooley

I spent today attending the annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, held this year at the University of Richmond. Specifically, I was attending the Natural History and Biodiversity section, which included 15 talks and 4 posters. While I wasn’t presenting … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Modern critters | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science

Posted on May 24, 2011 by altondooley

I spent the weekend with friends in eastern Indiana, collecting limestone for our upcoming exhibit on the Ordovician Period. On Sunday, after the truck was full we made the short drive to Cincinnati to visit the Museum of Natural History and … Continue reading →

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Fossils and First Graders

Posted on May 19, 2011 by altondooley

Today we took two carloads of people and a whole bunch of fossil plants to Monroeton Elementary School in Reidsville, North Carolina, to teach Christa Winingham’s 1st grade class about fossil plants. This is the third program on fossils we’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, education, and philosophy | 1 Comment

Driving home

Posted on May 13, 2011 by altondooley

Last Sunday, following the conclusion of the SeAVP Conference and a pleasant visit to the Jacksonville Zoo, Brett, Tim, and I began driving home. The day at the zoo was sunny and bright, but just a few miles north of Jacksonville on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

SeAVP meeting afternoon session

Posted on May 8, 2011 by altondooley

After lunch, Timothy Gaudin, Greg McDonald, and Ascanio Rincón kicked off the afternoon session by looking at the relationships within the sloth family Megalonychidae, which includes such diverse forms as the extinct giant ground sloth Megalonyx and the extant two-toed sloth Choloepus (above … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmel Church Chondrichthyans, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group, Conferences, Modern critters | Tagged , | 2 Comments

SeAVP meeting morning session

Posted on May 7, 2011 by altondooley

The SeAVP meeting has grown over the years, and with 28 presentations and posters I’ve decided to break it up into two posts. The Fourth Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of Vertebrate Paleontology got underway this morning with a … Continue reading →

Posted in "Caroline", Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group, Conferences, Modern critters | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lead-in to SeAVP

Posted on May 6, 2011 by altondooley

One of the great joys of attending paleontology meetings is the opportunity to visit the host museum (there usually is one). Doing paleontological research generally requires visiting museums to see specimens , but travel is expensive and paleontologists are never … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Modern critters, Museums | Tagged | 2 Comments

Driving to Gainesville

Posted on May 5, 2011 by altondooley

We left Martinsville this morning to drive to Gainesville, Florida for this weekend’s SeAVP meeting. As it’s a 10 hour drive, we had to make a few stops along the way, including a new rest area on US 220 near Seagrove, North … Continue reading →

Posted in Invertebrate Paleontology, Science and Technology | 1 Comment

Lycopod trunk now on exhibit

Posted on May 3, 2011 by altondooley

Last year Boxley Materials donated and delivered to VMNH a large lycopod trunk section from the Beckley Quarry. Thanks to Boxley also manufacturing a cradle to hold the specimen, we’re now able to place the trunk on permanent exhibit in “Uncovering Virginia” at the entrance … Continue reading →

Posted in Boxley-Beckley, Paleobotany | Leave a comment