Dallas Paleo Society mtg Wed, Oct 14

[Tom Dill]

Throwing Shade

 

When you look at beautiful fossil leaves, have you ever wondered what the forest was like?  Was the leaf from a tall tree, hogging the sun at the top of the forest?  Or did it grow in the understory, in the shadows of big trees above?  Perhaps we can figure that out.  Please join our next online meeting of the DPS at 7pm on Wednesday, October 14th, when we will hear how to “see the forest from the leaves”.

 

Joe Milligan, PhD candidate at Baylor University, will speak on "Sycamores shine a light on ancient canopy structure”.  Joe has a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and an MA in Earth and Environmental Science from Wesleyan University.  He is doing several research projects for his doctorate, including estimating the CO2 content of the ancient atmosphere from fossil leaves, which is supported by a scholarship from the DPS.  In this work he studied living trees which were grown in different shade conditions, and determined how the leave shape, microstructure, and even the carbon isotope composition are effected.  Sycamores are one of our most beautiful trees, and distinctive fossils, so it will be fun to learn how they might tell us about the structure of ancient forests.

 

Wednesday, October 14th, will also be National Fossil Day!  We will celebrate with two short talks on fossils that can be seen in our national parks.  Tom Dill will give a short walking tour of giant spiral beaver burrows along the Daemonelix Trail in Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska, and Estée Easley will talk about Florissant Fossil Beds in Colorado, and their virtual displays and online activities.  So stay online after the main presentation to see more fossils.

 

Please join our Zoom meeting by clicking on this link:  https://zoom.us/j/92213920218?pwd=N0l4eXhtQW9lOU1uQVp5OGh3OUFWdz09

Or start the Zoom app and join the Meeting ID: 922 1392 0218, with the Passcode: 466780. Remember that you are on camera if your video feed is on, and that we can hear everything if you have your microphone on.  Please be responsible about what you sending out to the world.  If you move your mouse over the Zoom window, controls will appear where you can turn on and off your audio and video “feeds” to the meeting.  During the presentations we will mute everyone’s audio, but if you come in late, be sure to mute yourself.  You can submit questions for the speaker in the chat box, typing “QUESTION” to make them stand out.  We will read them at the end in the order received, or unmute people to ask their questions.

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

I'll make sure to be there!