RAPID/Collaborative Research: Digitizing Early Cretaceous dinosaur trackways to preserve the geological heritage of central Texas
Abstract from NSF website:
Dinosaur tracks and trackways represent an invaluable testimony of ancient lifeforms and are enthusiastically acclaimed by the general public. Yet, increasing urbanization jeopardizes their preservation for future generations. This is especially true in central Texas where the metropolitan population grows by 1.7% yearly, and puts dinosaur tracksites exposed in rural areas and creeks at risk. Other stress includes transient flood and weathering enhanced by climate change. This proposal will preserve three sites in a digital format using advanced imagery techniques, while the analysis of collected rock samples will provide information on the landscape where dinosaurs lived. New data will be integrated in the Naylor Family Dinosaur Gallery of the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, to educate the general public on preservation best practice and the ecology of life in central Texas about 110 million years ago. This project will engage researchers from four institutions with a strong track record on the topic; they will mentor a female, non-traditional Ph.D. student, and undergraduate students to solidify their interest in geoscience and retain them in the major.
This project will inform on the depositional environment and the conditions that promoted the preservation of trace fossils. The digitization of each site using photogrammetric techniques will be complemented by detailed analysis of rock samples using microscopy and geochemistry. Results will evaluate whether dinosaur tracks are preferentially preserved in shallow marine sediments deposited during periods of sea-level fall when their frequent subaerial exposure under a hot and dry climate favored their early lithification and preservation. Alternatively, preservation may be enhanced by rapid burial with clay-rich sediment in a hot and humid environment. Geochemical and petrographic data will test these hypotheses. The integration of all results in a database available to the general public, will showcase the cultural heritage of Texas, and serve as a basis for future research.
copyright D. Price 2019
Duration: August 2020 - July 2021. Follow our progress in the blog!
CAREER: Environmental forcing on the resilience of carbonate platforms during the Early Cretaceous super greenhouse period
Abstract from NSF website:
Shallow marine reef systems support a highly diversified community. Yet, approximately 75% of these carbonate-producing systems are threatened by ongoing climate change and human activity. Investigating the Earth’s history has the potential to identify mitigation processes for similar crises. About 120 million years ago, the atmospheric content of greenhouse gases increased dramatically. Under such conditions, shallow marine carbonate-producing ecosystems either survived, adapted, or disappeared. This proposal will test the hypothesis that the resilience of carbonate-producing ecosystems was favored at low latitudes by examining four locations along a transect from the ancient equator to subtropical latitudes. This project will embed underrepresented minority students recruited from a community college. Their early exposure to research and multitiered mentoring during a summer
Location of the study regions considered during the Aptian Stage (A, modified from Skelton and Gili, 2012, Sedimentology) and on modern geography where selected areas are located with red boxes (B, C, D, E).
internship will solidify their interest in geoscience, retaining them in the major, while the online publication of their research will serve as a model to inspire other minority students.This project will link the adaptation of ecosystems to environmental deteriorations associated with the Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 1a, by investigating carbonate platforms preserved in France, Italy, and Oman. These areas were located at different latitudes during the OAE1a and experienced diverse climate and weathering conditions. Carbonate platforms either disappeared at high paleolatitudes or transitioned into microbial communities in subequatorial settings. Determining parameters that favor the resilience of these ecosystems requires the identification of the perturbations in the carbon cycle and in the fossil assemblage associated with the OAE1a, and the appraisal of associated environmental stresses using geochemical proxies. Achieving these tasks will deepen the knowledge on feedback mechanisms between the environment and carbonate production, quantify thermal and nutrient latitudinal gradients under super greenhouse conditions, and improve the understanding of the resilience of ecosystems during a period of global paleoceanographic perturbation that could serve to mitigate the demise of modern reef systems.
Duration: August 2019 - July 2024
Contact me for information about graduate research assistantship opportunities.
GEOPATHS: Using professional career experiences to strenghten pathways into the geoscience workforce
This NSF-funded program started in September 2016 and aims to improve students’ career preparedness by offering mentoring and internships opportunities and develop best practice through this research that is testing the effectiveness of multiple experiential experiences coupled with professional and personal development activities. The program follows a clinical rotation model, targets students from underrepresented minorities and follows them through up to three internships in the professional career tracks of academia, water resources, energy resources and geo-environmental assessment. The team consists of Dr. Judy Haschenburger (lead PI), Drs. Walter Gray, Anne-Marie Nuñez (now at Ohio State University) Marina Suarez (now at the University of Kansas), David Young (now at Ohio State University) and myself (PIs).
More details on our program website: http://www.utsa.edu/geosci/pathways/