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Thank you Eleanor for a wonderful webinar series. I am glad for your email on how to become certified by listening to the webinars online and making a comment here on each webinar.
I have watched each webinar online and here are my comments and questions:
Session 1 (Fossil Collecting): Nice to hear how important how amateur paleontologist is to donated fossils. I am most appreciative to joining fossil clubs. I am a member of the Delaware Valley Paleontological Society and Penn Dixie. This is how I found out about this project. Maine does not have many fossils but has an excellent publication Maine’s Fossil Record by Lisa Churchill-Dickson available from the Maine Geological Survey. http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mgs/explore/fossils/fossil-record.htm
I used to start my research on fossils sites at : http://www.fossilsites.com/STATES/ but this website is no longer available. Do people know where to find these state lists?
The resources mentioned by Jay are very good. Good to know about the Neophyte guide to vertebrate fossils.
I will join the fossil forum soon as well.
Session#2 (Field notes 101): This webinar was excellent. I have found Mancos app very useful and an amazing resource for identifying the formation for any site. This webinar is essential for the serious paleontologist.
Session#3 (Excavating Fossils): This webinar was well organized and a great resource to share with students. It was good to focus on ethics as well as collecting law. The case studies were a good way to handle this diverse topic. I work mostly with invertebrates, so it was good to see examples with a vertebrate example. It would be good to have an invertebrate case study.
Session #4 (Fossil Preparation): I like the progression of tools from simple to more complex tools. You gave enough details so that each method could be implemented. In doing a cast do not forget to mention spraying the specimen and mold with release solution. If you forget this step (from experience) you can have a big mess and ruin either the specimen or the mold. Great information on cataloguing and storage. I was not aware of the problem of storing fossils in wood. I am also now using B-72 to seal labels. The links were most useful.
This series and project has been most helpful to developing my skills as an amateur and improving my practices to a much higher level. Thank you.
Jim Chandler, Bryant Pond, ME
It would be most helpful in a future video or webinar to do one on fossil identification and resources for identification.
@christine-verdi and @jim-chandler – Thank you very much for your comments about the Fall 2016 webinars! I am glad that you enjoyed them and found many aspects useful.
@jayson-kowinsky, @bmacfadden, @dbutler, and @rnarducci – You all would probably appreciate reading Jim’s excellent feedback to each of your webinars.
@jim-chandler, you ask some great questions. Here are my responses:(1) You may have already found this resource for fossil sites by state: http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/ (this is from Jayson Kowinsky who presented the first webinar).
(2) We will certainly plan for an invert-focused fossil excavation webinar in the future. We heard that same request from many webinar attendees.
(3) Fossil identification is a hard topic to cover in a 30-minute webinar or video. I wonder if fossil clubs/societies nationwide would be willing to contribute their “best practices” for identification of fossils in their various regions, and we could produce a compiled document which would be available under the ‘Resources’ tab. Would this be useful to you?
Stay warm up there in Maine!
Thanks Eleanor @egardner and the myFOSSIL team for presenting these webinars. I was able to participate in real time for the first and last, and viewed the middle two via the website and gave feedback via the links included in each webinar.
Thanks to Bruce @bmacfadden (Field Notes 101), I will record and catalog my future collecting in a more meaningful and professional manner. It was nice to see that two of my SFAFM colleagues contributed to this webinar and even better to see that it had such a high attendance rate. Well done all!
Thanks to Dava Butler @dbutler for the Excavating Fossils webinar. I will definitely be checking out the ‘theodolite’ type apps for my smartphone since I carry it for recording images but do not carry a GPS device. I will also be taking some of that stabilization fluid, most likely Vinac, on my next trip to the Suedberg Formation of PA. I was carrying PaleoBond but I agree with Dava’s assessment of ease of removal during the preparation cleanup.
Again, well done all on an interesting and informative webinar series.
Thanks, Don
Excellent comments, thanks @don-muller! Glad you enjoyed the Fall 2016 webinar series and found the information presented useful. Let us know how it goes with the Theodolite app!
I’m looking forward to the start of the Fall 2017 webinar series, “FOSSIL Roadshow,” scheduled for this Wednesday (Sept 20) at 7pm Eastern! This time I get to participate in the series as a general attendee, instead of working behind-the-scenes. 😉 I believe the first episode will feature Dry Dredgers such as @jkallmeyer, trilobite expert Dr. Brenda Hunda, as well as myFOSSIL members like @matthew-croxton.
Who else will be attending? Will you be there, @kyle-hartshorn, @lmccall, @cferrara, @lcone, @george-powell, @jayson-kowinsky, @lynn-moore, @tmorgan, @llundgren, @don-muller, @jim-chandler, @christine-verdi, @skillingsworth, @rmanning, @lance-schnatterly, @joyce-drakeford, @mackenzie-smith, @asa-kaplan ?
What are you looking forward to learning about?
I know very little about the paleontology of Ohio so I’m happy to pick up whatever I can! Paleozoic fossils are rare from my (former) part of the country as well. However, I did manage a brachiopod collection and would love to hear about them (especially spirifers).
Thanks for the tag, EG! I have no idea what this webinar is or where to find it, but I’d like to learn about the lesser-known soft-bodied preservation localities like Blue Island. And maybe a review of some amazing sites that are now off-limits (rather than played out).
@asa-kaplan – The webinar series is one that FOSSIL typically offers each semester (usually once per month for 4 months). In Fall 2016, the theme was “Fundamentals of Fossils.” In Spring 2017, the theme was “Women in Paleontology.” This semester’s theme is the “FOSSIL Roadshow,” which is modeled loosely after PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” tv show. Here is a link to the Events Calendar item with a link to connect live on Wednesday night: https://www.myfossil.org/event/fossil-project-webinar-fall-2017-series-fossil-identification/.
@egardner, the webinar was great! I liked seeing the diversity of trilobite species. All the speakers were so knowledgable. Thanks, Dr. Hunda, @jkallmeyer, @matthew-croxton, @thomas-johnson, and Don! Can you all link to the correct spellings of the identified species? I browsed around on myFOSSIL to find that resource @jeanette-pirlo mentioned at the very end (the trilobite ID book/guide/resource?), too but couldn’t find it, can someone link it?
@llundgren, @matthew-croxton, @egardner, @jeanette-pirlo For my trilobite it was Ceraurinus icarus. John’s little trilobites were Primaspis but I don’t recall the species name Brenda used. The trilobite that Tom Johnson had was some species of Isotelus – maybe maximus or gigas or maybe neither. Don’s Silurian trilobite from Indiana was a Calymene of some sort. His Moroccan one is Wallicerops but I don’t know the species (and yes, it is real). Matthew’s enrolled trilobite was a Flexicalymene retrorsa from Mt Orab. Matthew’s trace fossil is a type of “cruziana” which is a morphological descriptive term not a genus or species. This is a trace of some critter moving through the sediment going from here to there.
Jack
@llundgren, @matthew-croxton, @egardner, @jeanette-pirlo I thoroughly enjoyed the first of the fall season’s webinar series, and thought that the presenters were terrific! Brenda’s introduction and moderator’s explanations were scientific, yet clearly presented so that amateur audiences could follow her enlightening remarks. Jack, Matthew, Tom, and John gave us great looks at specimens from the Cincinnati Arch and beyond, and their knowledge supported the expertise of the moderator. I also felt like the format allowed for instruction and education, as well as timely input from the viewing public. By opening up Q/A throughout the session, there was contiguity and focus on the topics and specimens. This worked much better than waiting until the end of the session for questions. I am so looking forward to the next topics, and want to commend the myFossil team on such an outstanding job.
Thanks,
Lee
@llundgren, @matthew-croxton, @egardner, @jeanette-pirlo I knew I should have slept on this before giving all of that information about the specific names last night. I made an error!! The two species names I listed for John’s Primaspis are actually species names for Cryptolithus. Primaspis should be Primaspis crosotus.
For more information and ID help with Cincinnatian trilobites go to the Dry Dredgers website trilobite pages: http://www.drydredgers.org/trilobit.htm
Jack
Thanks, @jkallmeyer! I think I remember @lmccall and @willis-dc wanting to know species names during the webinar, but I’m sure there are other folks who were curious too. The web page you linked, http://www.drydredgers.org/trilobit.htm is an excellent resource. I wonder if there’s another resource that could be linked to that website (or here!), like a visual depicting the formations and the trilobites that are found there. @jbauer or @alycia-stigall, do you know of something like this?
Hi, @llundgren – Good questions. I know @alycia-stigall’s Atlas of Ordovician Life has some stratigraphic information on it for each of the species found in the Cincinnati region. Here is a link to the Trilobite section: http://www.ordovicianatlas.org/atlas/arthropoda/trilobita/
I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head but I think this is another good trilobite reference: http://trilobites.info/ It doesn’t have specific formations but it has an insane amount of good figures and details specifics of a variety of trilobites.
The Paleobiology Database (fossilworks.org) may be a good source to figure out what is found in the same horizons… So, using Flexicalymene meeki as a test here are the results: http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl from this you can click any of the locations where F. meeki is found and get a list of other taxa reported from the same horizon (e.g., Ontario). It’s all text, nothing really visual but lots of data.
In summary, I have nothing that is exactly what you want but the above sites are what I would use to find the results… although they are visually unappealing in fossilworks/PBDB. =[
@llundgren, @lmccall, @willis-dc, @jbauer
Lisa, I noted during the webinar a lot of people wanting to take a field trip to where Don Bissett found his beautiful Calymene sp. Just so people don’t get their hopes up, these trilobites don’t come out of the ground looking like that. They are usually in matrix and professional prep is needed to reveal them. Also, Don did explain that he has collected this quarry for 40 years and has only found 6 of them. That’s pretty slim pickings.
Jack
Hi Sadie @sadie-mills – I looked at the last webinar the other day because I was out of town the day it aired, boy it is great to see and hear what other collectors are finding. I have seen all of the webinars so far and they keep getting better each time. Keep up the great work! I enjoy the part were the collectors can get in on the show and tell us in their words what and were they found the fossils. Take Care, George
Announcing- A FOSSIL Feast: A special webinar featuring the fossil history of your favorite holiday foods.
Do you love turkey? Cranberry sauce? Pecan pie? Tell us your favorite dish, and we may select it to feature in our Nov. 29th webinar.
Please send us your holiday food recommendations by Friday, November 24th, and we will select up to 6 to discuss in the episode.
Then, join us for the webinar on Wednesday, November 29th, at 7:00pm EST to learn about the geologic history of your favorite dishes, including opportunities for Q&A!
Already have a favorite food in mind? Comment below!
Fossil ID webinar is tonight at 4pm PST / 5pm MST / 6pm CST / 7pm EST, right? at http://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/room
Hi @asa-kaplan, the FOSSIL Roadshow webinar series on fossil ID will resume next month. This month, we are hosting a special webinar on November 29th: https://www.myfossil.org/event/november-webinar-a-fossil-feast/. Sorry for any confusion!
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