Western Interior Paleontological Society | Events Calendar
UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE EARTH SCIENCES
The Western Interior Paleontological Society provides this
free calendar listing as a service to the public and to the scientific
community. To submit items for our online and newsletter events listings,
please send text to
Calendar Submission Guidelines
A limit of 200 words is suggested for the description of the event,
exclusive of date, times and contact information. Listings may be
edited. No graphics will be included in the online listing. Graphics
may be included in the newsletter listing as space permits. To submit a
graphic for print, please include it as a separate file (not embedded
in a Word document). Files accepted for print include jpg (minimum 150
dpi), tiff, bitmap or eps.
MONTHLY
Every Second Friday
Free USGS Map, Compass, and GPS Classes
USGS continues to offer these free classes for the public at the Denver Federal Center, Lakewood CO, Building 810. Mornings (9-11) are Map & Compass, and afternoons (12-4) are GPS. To register please call 303-202-4689, or email gpsworkshops@usgs.gov to reserve a place; bring your GPS unit if you have one.
APRIL 2008
April 4-6, 2008
MAPS Fossil Expo 30
The MAPS Fossil Expo is the largest show in the world that exhibits fossils exclusively. Each Expo features a theme and keynote speaker. Location: Western Hall, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois. Free admission. Info: MAPS
April 5, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Perspectives on Evolution Workshop
A University of Colorado workshop for educators with guest speakers and hands-on activities exploring different facets of evolution. The event begins with a talk by U.S. Federal District Judge John E. Jones, who issued the decision in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case in December 2005. He ruled that the school district's policy requiring biology teachers to teach intelligent design was unconstitutional. Nearly forty years earlier, in 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that the State of Arkansas' 1928 anti-evolution law was unconstitutional in the Epperson v. Arkansas case.
The second guest speaker, Susan Epperson, was teaching 10th-grade biology in Little Rock at the time, and was asked by the Arkansas Education Association to be the plaintiff in this landmark case. Susan currently teaches biology and chemistry at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and will speak about her experience. BSI (Biological Science Initiative) Science Squad members will lead four breakout sessions that emphasize hands-on evolution activities for the classroom: 1) Horizontal Gene Transfer, Bacterial Evolution, and Antibiotic Resistance; 2) The Human Body in Primate Time; 3) Cultural Evolution, Natural Selection and Population Growth; and 4) Natural Selection, Adaptive Radiation and Phylogenetic Trees Using Galapagos finches. Location: University of Colorado at Boulder. Workshop Cost: Free. CDE Credit: .5 (free). CU Graduate Credit*: .5 ($35). Designed for middle and high school teachers.
Instructors: BSI Science Squad. Register online at: www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12/reserve.cgi
April 16, 7 p.m.
Geography Goes Digital I
The first of three lectures with at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science with Bob Raynolds, PhD, research associate, Earth Sciences Department, and Ka Chun Yu, PhD, curator of space science, Space Sciences Department
Forget the boring geography lessons of old! With Dr. Yu as your driver and Dr. Raynolds as your guide, you will embark on an amazing tour of Earth from the vantage of a satellite in space. Gates Planetarium's digital projection has been upgraded to give even better looking visuals. Using imagery from space as well as from the surface of Earth, you will see Colorado and the world in a whole new way, with views that will illustrate our cities, our natural resources, and our impact on the planet. Tour the west and the world from the comfort of a Planetarium seat!
Gates Planetarium. $12 member, $15 nonmember. Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
April 19, 8 p.m.
Extreme Ice with James Balog
Award-winning photographer james Balog has been breaking new ground in the art of nature photography for 25 years. His latest and most ambitious project, the Extreme Ice Survey, combines art and activism on a scale that is remarkable even for him. Since 2006, Balog has been systematically photographing 27 glaciers in 15 locations around the world. It is the most wide-ranging glacier study ever conducted using ground-based, time-lapse photography. The images demonstrate how these landscapes are changing before our eyes, nearly in lockstep with rising global temperatures. Balog and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have partnered to present a new exhibition of more than 24 of his images, featuring glaciers that reflect the rugged-and vanishing-beauty of some of the most extreme and remote environments on Earth. During this opening event, you will enjoy a presentation by Balog, followed by a dessert reception and a chance to see these stunning images. Phipps IMAX Theater.
$15 member, $18 nonmember. Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
April 25-27
Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show
Minerals fossils, gems, jewelry and lapidary
Dealers from across the U.S., and from China, India, Brazil and Russia. Holiday Inn-Denver Central, 4849 Bannock St. (retail and wholesale)
Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission and parking. Open to the public.
May 5
New Developments in Fossil Preparation and Curation
At the May monthly meeting of the Western Interior Paleontological Society, Tom Nolan and Bob Atkinson will report on the latest in fossil prep and curation. Stay tuned for more details. Info: WIPS
May 14, 7 p.m.
Crocodiles in Greenland and Hippos in London: A Fossil-Fueled Tour of Past and Future Climates
Earth's climate is driven by the interaction of solar energy with land, sky and oceans. While this has always been the case, shifting positions of continents and the ever-changing chemistry and currents of oceans and air have created a world with a complex history. This history is written in stone and told by fossils. Fossil plants from 50 million years ago show that the polar regions were ice free and densely forested and that tropical rainforests reached middle latitudes. Dr. Kirk Johnson, chief curator and vice president, Research and Collections Division, will take you from the Amazon Basin to the High Arctic and into Deep Time as he explains Earth history by visiting fossil sites on different continents and using them to reconstruct lost worlds, extinct biomes and ancient climates. Phipps IMAX Theatre, Denver Museum of Nature & Science. $12 member, $15 nonmember. Info: Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
JUNE 2008
June 6-8
Tate Conference 2008 - The Eocene Epic: Life, Death and Conquest in the Early Cenozoic
The Tate Museum at Casper College in Casper, Wyoming invites one and all to join us in our 14th annual Tate Conference this summer. The conference is a three day event featuring a day of speakers on various Eocene topics followed by a two-day field trip to Eocene sites in southwestern Wyoming.
For information and the latest updates, see Casper College or contact JP Cavigelli at 307-268-2447 or jpcavigelli@caspercollege.edu.
June 21-22
45th Annual Pikes Peak Gem & Mineral Show
Hosted by the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society. Displays from the Smithsonian; gem, mineral and jewelry dealers; educational area for kids; free gold panning; free mineral specimens; USGS exhibits; demonstrations of faceting and lapidary arts. Location: Phil Long Expo Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado (near I-25 and Academy Blvd.). Hours: 10 a.m.-5p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $5 adults, $2.50 children 5-12, kids under 5 free. For information and coupon for $1 off admission, visit: CSMS.
