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Author Archives: altondooley
Headed west
As many of you already know, I’ve decided to leave my position at VMNH to take a new job as Executive Director of the Western Science Center in Hemet, California. Tomorrow morning I start the long drive out west, and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
Solite excavation, Day 4
Last Saturday we had nice weather for continuing our salvage operation at the Solite Quarry. We were also fortunate to have a lot of additional Triassic expertise, as we were joined by Sterling Nesbitt and Michelle Stocker from Virginia Tech, … Continue reading
Posted in Newark Supergroup, Solite Quarry
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Solite excavation, Day 3
Two weeks ago bad weather prevented us from continuing our National Geographic-funded excavations at the Solite Quarry, but last Saturday we were able to continue with our efforts. As is often the case at Solite, we recovered a number of … Continue reading
Posted in Newark Supergroup, Solite Quarry
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Possible traces on a fossil plant?
DB Poli from Roanoke College and her students Travis Lupmkin and Sarah Petrosky have been closely examining our Carboniferous plant fossils from the Boxley quarry in Beckley, West Virginia, in order to make identifications and to look for any unusual … Continue reading
Posted in Paleobotany
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All good things…
I first started working for VMNH as an intern in 1989, shortly after the museum opened. In 1999 I started working here full time, initially as the Laboratory Manager and later as Curator of Paleontology. So it’s a little surprising … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
11 Comments
Solite excavation, Day 2
Yesterday marked the second day of our Solite Quarry salvage operation. After spending last Saturday largely planning and scouting, we were able to make a lot more progress this week.
Posted in Newark Supergroup, Solite Quarry
2 Comments
New Solite excavation
Paleontologists have an interesting relationship with quarry operators. By their very nature quarry operations destroy fossils and their geological context. And yet, by exposing new layers of rock quarrying operations lead to the discovery of new fossil deposits that might … Continue reading
Posted in Newark Supergroup, Solite Quarry
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Triassic footprint donation
Paul Olsen from Columbia University spent the day at VMNH examining some of our Triassic collections. Paul is responsible for much of our understanding of how Newark Supergroup sediments were deposited and how they correlate with each other, so we’re always … Continue reading
Posted in Newark Supergroup
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More belostomatids
I mentioned in my last post that water bugs from the family Belostomatidae are among the most common insects at the Solite Quarry. Christina was recently photographing a rather nondescript piece of the insect bed that demonstrates this quite well.
From the Collections Room (Belostomatidae)
I’m back at the museum after a short vacation, but the lab didn’t shut down in my absence. Christina took lots of photos of Solite insects while I was gone, including a number of belostomatids.
Updates from the Paleontology Lab 