My Research and Field Expeditions

Growing up in Colorado I was exposed to the rich geological history of the Rocky Mountains. I quickly became fascinated with rocks, and collected them passionately whilte speculating on their history. It was through my many explorations in the Colorado backcountry that I also gained a personal appreciation for the animals and plants that surrounded me. When choosing a profession, I brought these two fascinations together in professing interest in paleontology.

I was first introduced to research in paleontology in the fall of 1994 by Dr. Emmett Evanoff, while taking his course in paleobiology, at the University of Colorado. It was through him that I was introduced to Dr. Peter Robinson and Mr. Paul Murphey who were both engaged in research in vertebrate paleontology, especially the study of fossil mammals. During the next four years I participated in work conducted by Dr. Robinson and Mr. Murphey on the mammalian fossils from the middle Eocene Bridger Formation of southwest Wyoming. During the summer of 1995, I spent two weeks working with Dr. Evanoff on a seismic survey of the Florissant fossil beds in central Colorado.

In 1996, I returned to southwest Wyoming with Dr. Robinson to continue research in the Bridger Formation. Following this field work, I conducted additional research for John Alexander from the American Museum of Natural History. This work focused on the stratigraphy and alluvial architecture of the Bridger B, an informal lithostatigraphic unit within the Bridger Formation. As part of this research I measured numberous detailed stratigraphic sections, correlated the rock layers throughout the project area and measured paleo-current directions of fluvial sandstones. Later that summer I worked with Dr. Evanoff on a project examing the geology and paleontology of Ft. Carson Army Base near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Over the course of the 1997 academic year, I worked on my honors thesis in Geology concerning the systematics and paleoeclogy of Hyopsodus, a small herbivorous condylarth mammal, from the Bridger Formation. The remains of Hyopsodus are extremely abundant in middle Eocene deposits, constituting the most common component of the mammalian fossil assemblage. It is estimated that over 40,000 specimens are known in museum collections throughout North America. The ubiquitous nature of Hyopsodus makes it ideal for studies of evolutionary processes. During the course of my study, I was able to reclassify species of Hyopsodus through detailed examination of molar cusp morphology. In addition, I demostrated the temporal and geographical ranges of these species throughout the formation by three-dimensionally mapping their distributions. This information is useful in the study of past migration, speciation, and paleoecological reconstructions.

I spent the summer of 1997 working with Dr. Evanoff on the geology and paleontology of Piñon Canyon, Colorado. Specifically, we worked in the Jurassic Morrison formation, using a GIS system to document dinosaur and fossil wood localities for the United States Army. I also worked in the Miocene Ogalala Formation near Carr, Colorado as part of a gas pipeline survey, and spent several weeks in the Bridger formation collecting fossils for the American Museum of Natural History. The fall of 1997 I commenced my post graduate studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Last summer I returned to southwest Wyoming with John Alexander and David Wilcots. It was a very productive summer, not only did we find a number of nice fossils, but I also returned to Colorado to get married, to my love, Lea Ann Jolley. Returning to New York, I spent the fall studying, while my wife went to Egypt with Dr. Elwyn Simons and crew, to collect fossil mammals in the late Eocene/early Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation in the Fayum depression.

The Fayum Depression is at the western edge of the Sahara Desert. The Jebel Qatrani Formation is scientifically important because it represents the first diversification of fossil primates in Africa. The Widan el Faras Basalt caps the Qasr el Sagha Formation and is 31 million years old. Along side the fossil primates is a large variety of other fossils, including hyraxes, elephant shrews, hystricomorph rodents, and early elephants.

Currently, I am working toward my PhD., in the vertebrate paleontology program in Anatomical Sciences department at the State University of New York, in Stony Brook. I am interested in all aspects of mammalian paleontology, but especially Condylarths. Condylarths, an extinct order of mammals from the Paleocene and Eocene, are of particular importance since they are ancestral to many modern orders of mammals, including Perissodactyla (horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs), Sirenia (dugongs and manatees), Proboscidea (elephants), Hyracoidea (hyraxes) and the extinct, but highly diverse Meridiungulata (South American ungulates). I am currently absorbed in the systematic and phylogenetic relationships of various groups of primitive fossil ungulates.

In addition, to understanding the relationships of ungulates, I am equally interested in uncovering the origin and evolution of cursoriality in early Cenozoic ungulate mammals. Looking in detail at the origin and accumulation of morphological traits that ungulates developed for specializing in running.

Aside from my investment in paleontology, I enjoy writing and reading poetry and fiction, painting, fly fishing, and any activity that requires me to camp outside for extended periods of time.