CSU takes an interest in paleontology and encourages careers in this field – The Rocky Mountain Collegian

“Life finds a way,” Ian Malcolm said in “Jurassic Park,” and it seems that it did. Even though millions of years have passed, scientists are still discovering evidence of past life on Earth, helping people understand life on the planet today.

Evidence of past life comes in the form of fossils: preserved remains, traces, or impressions of plants or animals in the Earth’s crust through a process called sedimentation. By carefully examining and dating fossils, paleontologists have created a timeline of life on Earth that is considered the fossil record. Paleontology is the study of present and past life through the examination of these fossils.

One of the most recent breakthroughs in paleontology was helped by a former student and faculty member at Colorado State University. Joe Sertich, who graduated from CSU in 2004, is one of the co-lead authors of the paper on the new dinosaur species Lokiceratops rangiformis.

“(The discovery) changes our understanding of what was happening in western North America during that time… andc“It’s changing the way we think about diversity,” said University of Utah professor Mark Loewen, one of Sertich’s fellow writers.

Named for its facial resemblance to the helmet of the Norse god Loki made famous by the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Lokiceratops was discovered in northern Montana in 2019. Its name translates to “Loki’s horned face that looks like a caribou.” It has a different pattern of horns compared to similar ceratops species, Loewen said.

A cast of the Lokiceratops skeleton now resides at the Utah Museum of Natural History, while the original skeleton was sent to be displayed in Denmark.

“You“This project involved undergraduate researchers,” Loewen said. “We“We want college students to get excited about research now so they’ll do better later in life.”

CSU students who love paleontology and want to get involved in research have the opportunity to apply to the CSU Paleontology Field School, which offers a summer session. Led by paleontologist Thomas Bown and biological anthropologist Kim Nichols, students have the chance to learn about paleontology in a hands-on way.

“I didn’t even know you could be a paleontologist before I applied to the CSU Paleontology Field School,” said Luke Weaver, a CSU alumnus who participated in the first field school in 2013. “I barely knew what paleontology was. But by the end of the summer, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in paleontology.”

The first week of the course begins in a traditional classroom, teaching students the fundamentals of several topics including geology, paleontology, mammal and primate evolution and dental anatomy, Weaver said.

After a week of lectures and lab work, students travel to Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, to conduct field excavations. Students spend a week in the field excavating fossils, followed by a week of analyzing the fossils found and presenting to the rest of the class.

“It was the most incredible experience of my life up to that point,” Weaver said. “I learned more from Tom and Kim that summer than I ever had before, and it was like a light went on and all of a sudden I could see.”

Weaver earned a PhD in 2021 from the University of Washington and currently works at the University of Michigan as an associate curator of fossil mammals at the Museum of Paleontology. Weaver also works as an adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

“I can say with 100% certainty that none of this would have happened if it weren’t for Tom, Kim, and the CSU Paleo Field School,” Weaver said. “There’s no better place to begin your foray into paleontology.”

Contact Hana Pavelko at [email protected] or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.