Fossil Workshop in SW Alabama

This fossil workshop is sponsored by the Geological Survey of Alabama, The University of West Alabama, and Discovering Alabama.

The cost of the workshop is $15. Science teachers will receive 8 CEU's, a field guidebook, Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks by Jim Lacefield, two Discovering Alabama DVDs, a geologic map of Alabama, fact sheets on Alabama fossils, a box lunch, a fossil kit, and more.

For more information, click on the application form below.

Pre-registration is required for the limited number of spaces, so reserve your spot today!

The 112 acre Huntsville Botanical Garden will feature full sized dinosaur models through July 15, 2008. They will be displayed in life like settings using plants similar to those of ancient times. Included will be a 30 foot Edmontosaurus, a 30 foot Parasaurolophus, a 20 foot Allosaurus and many others.

--from Gallivant, Spring 2008

Original article below. Click to enlarge.

Our July meeting will be held 7-7 at 7pm. The speaker will be Dr. Ron Buta, a professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Alabama. He has been actively involved in collection and documentation of fossil trackways from the Steven Minkin Footprint Site for a number of years, and is also internationally known for his research on galaxies and astrophysics.

For his presentation, Dr. Buta will be discussing "Astronomy and the Coal Age of Alabama". The focus of the talk is around the concept of deep time and how things change over the long periods of time associated with astronomy, geology, and paleontology. As a reference marker, he has chosen a local Coal Age fossil site, the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site near Jasper, whose age has been dated at 310 million years. The main emphasis in the talk is on astronomical concepts: Where was the Sun 310 Myr ago? How does the sky change over such a long period of time and how is this connected to the way our galaxy rotates and to the ages of stars? What might the "star-gazing tetrapods" of Alabama's Coal Age seen in their sky? What were other galaxies like, and how do they change over such a long period? Where is the light from Alabama's Coal Age now? What were the planets like 310 Myr ago?

BPS regular monthly meetings are held on the 1st Monday of each month at the McWane Science Center. Park in the deck on "Level C", go through doors marked Special Event Center, and follow signs to the meeting. The program begins at 7:00, immediately followed by the business meeting.

Our June speaker will be Jon Gilliam of the University of Alabama, who will be presenting his research on Cretaceous predacious shell borings found in Sumter County, Alabama.

BPS regular monthly meetings are held on the 1st Monday of each month at the McWane Science Center. Park in the deck on "Level C", go through doors marked Special Event Center, and follow signs to meeting. The business meeting begins at 7:00, followed by the program around 7:45 or 8pm.

George Phillips, paleontology curator at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science will be speaking to us about Cretaceous paleo research. Here is some advance information:

Title: Upper Cretaceous Echinoderms of the Mid-South

Abstract: If an avocational review by Texans is excluded, it has been 50 years since there has been an official update on the status of Upper Cretaceous echinoderms in the Southeast. A better understanding of the diversity and distribution of Gulfian age (Late Cretaceous) echinoids, asteroids, ophiuroids, and crinoids in Mississippi and Alabama (specifically) has been slowly but steadily accumulating.

BPS regular monthly meetings are held on the 1st Monday of each month at the McWane Science Center. Park in the deck on "Level C", go through doors marked Special Event Center, and follow signs to meeting. The business meeting begins at 7:00, followed by the program around 7:45 or 8pm.