Paleontology
I have been interested in Cenozoic invertebrate paleontology for many years, both as a hobby and through
working and volunteering for the Florida Museum of Natural History. My area of
specialty is the lower Miocene Alum Bluff Group of north Florida. In addition, I
have one of the most extensive private collections of fossil Muricidae in the United
States (if not the world), and one day hope to have it all electronically catalogued.
For now, you can view some of the species in my collection
here.
You can also read old entries from my fossil
blog, which has been on hiatus for several years, as there just aren't enough hours in
the day to keep up with it anymore. My other collecting interests include
Florida vertebrates and any specimens I can get my hands on from the tar pit sites in California.
I
particularly like to collect calcaneums and astragali (i.e., heel/hock and ankle
bones), though I'm not exactly sure why! I have been a member of the Florida
Paleontological Society since the late 1990s.
Paleontology Related Activities and Achievements
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Co-author of "MOLLUSCA: Jackson Bluff Formation (Late Pliocene),” Florida Fossil Invertebrates, Pt 16 (with Roger Portell, Alex Kittle, and Sean Roberts) |
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2016
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Presented my ongoing research project, "Encouraging Professional-Amateur Collaboration: Lessons from the Literature on Collecting Motives," at the
Geological Society of America Southeastern Section Meeting in Columbia, South
Carolina (extended abstract)
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| 2014 |
Volunteer at the Aurora Fossil Festival auction, an annual event which raises money
to support the Aurora Fossil Museum in Aurora,
NC |
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| 2013-2014 |
Focus group participant, The FOSSIL Project (“Fostering Opportunities for Synergistic STEM with Informal Learners,” a nationwide NSF-funded website development project headed by researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History) |
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| 2013 |
User experience tester, iDigBio
website ("Integrated Digitized Biocollections," the National Resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC);
the iDigBio project is funded by the NSF based on a research partnership
between the University of Florida and Florida State University) |
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2009
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Co-author of "An Aberrant Sinistral Conus (Neogastropoda: Conidae) from the Miocene of Florida,
USA,”
The Nautilus, 123:4, pp. 317-318 (with Jonathan R. Hendricks and Roger
W. Portell) (view
figured specimen in the FLMNH collections)
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2008
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Presented my ongoing research project, "The Collecting Continuum: Incorporating Amateur Scientists and Scholarly Collecting Behaviors," at the
Association for Consumer Research Annual North American Conference in San Francisco,
California (extended
abstract)
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2007
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New species of fossil epitonium (Opalia politesae) named in my honor, published in
The
Nautilus 121(3), “The Epitoniidae (Gastropoda: Ptenoglossa) from
the Lower Alum Bluff Group (Lower to Middle Miocene) of Florida, with
Descriptions of Nine New Species” by Gary W. Schmelz and Roger W. Portell
(view
holotype in FLMNH collections)
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| 2006-2009 |
Elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the
Florida
Paleontological Society |
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| 2006 |
Co-author of "MOLLUSCA: Shoal River Formation (Middle
Miocene),”
Florida Fossil Invertebrates, Part 9, June 2006 (with Roger W.
Portell and Gary W. Schmelz) |
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2004
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Awarded the Paleontological Research Institution Trophy for my 9-foot
scientific exhibit, "Fossil Typhinae and Tripterotyphinae," at the
Sanibel Shell
Show, Sanibel,
Florida
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1999
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New species of fossil murex (Attiliosa gretae) named in my honor, published in
The Veliger 42(4), “Another Look at the Muricine Genus Attiliosa” by Dr. Emily H. Vokes, Tulane University (Emerita)
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1997
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Howard Converse Award for Outstanding Contributions to Florida Paleontology
(awarded annually by the Florida Paleontological
Society, in conjunction with the Florida Museum of Natural
History, Gainesville, Florida)
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1996-2001; 2007
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Worked part-time as a research contractor for the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida. Responsibilities included specimen identification and assistance in curating
Cenozoic invertebrate collections from the Tulane University Department of Geology and the Florida Geological Survey).
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1996-1997
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Recognized for research contributions and/or donation of important type specimens and comparative material in several publications, including the following:
- “A New Species of Pterynotus (Gastropoda: Muricidae) from the Eocene Ocala Limestone of Florida” by Roger W. Portell and Dr. Emily H. Vokes,
Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, Vol. 30, No. 3 (1997)
(view
holotype in FLMNH collections)
- “Notes on the Fauna of the Chipola Formation – XLI: A Reexamination of
Bursa (Mollusca Gastropoda) from the Chipola Formation, with the Description of a New Species” by Gary W. Schmelz,
Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, Vol. 30, No. 2 (1997)
(view
holotype in FLMNH collections)
- “Cenozoic Muricidae of the Western Atlantic Region, Part XI – The Subfamily Ergalataxinae” by Dr. Emily H. Vokes,
Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, Vol. 29, No.2 (1996)
- “The Genus Phalium from the Alum Bluff Group of Northwestern Florida” by Gary W. Schmelz,
Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, Vol. 29, No.2 (1996)
(view
holotype in FLMNH collections)
- “A New Species of Rhyncholampas from the Chipola Formation: The First Confirmed Member of the Genus from the Miocene of the SE U.S.A. and the Caribbean” by Craig W. Oyen and Roger W. Portell,
Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, Vol. 29, No.2 (1996)
(view
holotype in FLMNH collections)
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1996
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Awarded the Conchologists of America
Trophy for my 15-foot scientific exhibit, "Fossil
Muricidae of France," at the Sanibel Shell
Show, Sanibel, Florida
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1994-1995
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Won the following major awards for my 30-foot scientific/educational exhibit “Fossil Fauna of the Alum Bluff Group”:
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