April 19, 2007 - Dr. Gingerich Lecture in Tuscaloosa, AL

Submitted by Vicki Lais on Tue, 04/24/2007 - 22:00.

A few BPS members drove over to Tuscaloosa, AL to hear a lecture on fossil whales. We arrived early, and decided to "fossil hunt" at the Geological Survey of Alabama building. The steps and bannisters are of limestone, and are nicely weathered out to show beautiful fossils.

The speaker was Dr. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences, and Director of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan. His lecture was titled "Fossils and the Origin of Whales". The lecture was very educational and entertaining, with numerous slides of Dr. Gingerich's field trips to Egypt, Afganistan, and other locations over the years. His most recent research on fossil whales was discussed in the lecture. After the lecture, we had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Gingerich and the other paleontologists/ geologists in attendance.

Click the thumbnail to see the full size photo. They are large so it may take a while to download each one.

(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais, with special thanks to George Phillips for his assistance!)

Geological Survey of Alabama	Straight Cephalopod	Hash mixture/ crinoid stems
Gastropod	Straight Cephalopod	Gastropod
Hash mixture	Dr. Gingerich on far left	In front - Dr. James Lamb, Dr. David Kopaska-Merkel, Sandy Ebersole, Back row left: Dr. Martha Ivey, Dr. Andy Rindsburg, Greg Mestler, Dr. Carl Stock, Dr. Judy Stock, Dr. Philip Gingerich, Jun Ebersole, Vicki Lais, Leisa Whitlow.
In front - Dr. James Lamb, Dr. David Kopaska-Merkel, Back row left: Dr. Martha Ivey, Dr. Andy Rindsburg, Greg Mestler, Dr. Carl Stock, Dr. Judy Stock, Dr. Philip Gingerich, Sandy Ebersole, Jun Ebersole, Vicki Lais, Leisa Whitlow.	In front - Dr. James Lamb, Dr. David Kopaska-Merkel, Back row left: Dr. Martha Ivey, Dr. Andy Rindsburg, Vicki Lais Greg Mestler, Dr. Carl Stock, Dr. Philip Gingerich, Sandy Ebersole, Jun Ebersole, George Phillips, Leisa Whitlow.	In front - Dr. David Kopaska-Merkel, Back row left: Dr. Martha Ivey, Dr. Andy Rindsburg, Vicki Lais Greg Mestler, Dr. Carl Stock, Dr. James Lamb, Dr. Philip Gingerich, Sandy Ebersole, Jun Ebersole, George Phillips, Leisa Whitlow.
		And we had fun later too!