A LUCKY PALEONTOLOGIST & THE TALE OF THREE SPLENDID CANADIAN FOSSILS
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Join us for an exciting talk with Kirk Johnson — A Lucky Paleontologist & the Tale of Three Splendid Canadian Fossils with an intro by Ray Troll, Palaeartist
Thank you for joining us for a talk with the Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History & Paleontologist who has led expeditions in eighteen US states and eleven countries — including Ellesmere Island in the Arctic to the far reaches of the Amur-Heilongjiang region of China on the Chinese-Russian border and back again to find some of the first fossil plants in the badlands near Drumheller. Kirk is often asked why he studies plants and not something more spectacular. It is important that you know that plants are THE MOST SPECTACULAR fossils and his fossil plants would throw any theropod remains to the mat. Kirk shares about his exploits in the early 1990s traveling about the American northwest with Wes Wehr, an American paleontologist, poking around at interesting shale deposits — and finding a beautiful Florrisantia flower in the paper shales that led to the discovery of the Republic Washington fossil plant site that would eventually reveal a Florrisantia bouquet — plus more flowers, seeds, cones and all sorts of plant goodies that shape our understanding of the Eocene. Kirk gives us insight and the inside scoop on his adventures over the years and newly discovered fossils that will make your jaw drop. His talk is well worth a listen. We've popped a link to the audio recording below and will have his lecture up on YouTube shortly. Here are the links promised...NOVA Polar Extremes
https://www.pbs.org/video/polar-extremes-mfaum5/ Smithsonian Collections https://www.si.edu/collections Manual of Leaf Architecture (book) https://www.si.edu/collections Manual of Leaf Architecture (PDF) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270216727_Manual_of_Leaf_Architecture Database of 30,252 leaf images for you to get your geek on... https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/article/72350/ |
/ Palaeontology Talks
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"Kirk Johnson is sure to delight as he shares the tale of Three Splendid Canadian Fossils from the viewpoint of a Lucky Paleobotanist."
— Fossil Huntress |
ABOUT KIRK JOHNSON
Kirk Johnson is a geologist, paleobotanist, and the Sant Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. His research focuses on fossil plants and the extinction of the dinosaurs, and he is known for his scientific articles, popular books, museum exhibitions, documentaries, and collaborations with artists.
Prior to joining the Smithsonian's NMNH, Johnson was the chief curator at the Denver museum, overseeing a 70-person research and collections division (including curators, registrars, librarians, archivists, conservators, technicians, administrators and assistants) and managing its $3.5 million annual budget and 24 museum collections. He led the completion of the Denver museum’s first comprehensive long-term collections and research plan.
In the early 2000s, Johnson was the chair of the museum’s department of Earth sciences. Between 1991 and 1995, he was one of two scientists who led the development of “Prehistoric Journey,” the museum’s permanent exhibition about the history of life on Earth. From 1989 to 1990 he was a postdoctoral research associate in the department of botany at the University of Adelaide in Australia. He was a marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in California from 1982 to 1983, and he has been a research associate at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle since 1991.
Johnson’s research includes the study of the geology and fossil plants of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains from 34 to 145 million years ago. He also studies the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary extinction event and the origin of major ecological communities known as biomes.
Between October 2010 and July 2011, he led an excavation in Snowmass Village, Colo., that recovered more than 5,400 bones of mammoths, mastodons and other ice age animals. Bright, funny and a delightful human being, Kirk Johnson is a leader in his field and beyond. He has collaborated on numerous projects including two recent documentaries, “Making North America” (2015) and “Polar Extremes” (2019).
His recent books include “Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline: The Travels of an Artist and a Scientist along the Shores of the Prehistoric Pacific” (2018); “Visions of Lost Worlds, the Paleoart of Jay Matternes” (2019); and “Trees are made of Gas, The Story of Carbon and Climate” (2021). He has two NOVA specials coming out that we will include links to shortly. We'll also include a link to the Smithsonian's Paleobotany Data Set.
Johnson is lives in Washington, D.C., and is originally from Bellevue, Washington where a love of fossil plants gripped him — and never let go!
Prior to joining the Smithsonian's NMNH, Johnson was the chief curator at the Denver museum, overseeing a 70-person research and collections division (including curators, registrars, librarians, archivists, conservators, technicians, administrators and assistants) and managing its $3.5 million annual budget and 24 museum collections. He led the completion of the Denver museum’s first comprehensive long-term collections and research plan.
In the early 2000s, Johnson was the chair of the museum’s department of Earth sciences. Between 1991 and 1995, he was one of two scientists who led the development of “Prehistoric Journey,” the museum’s permanent exhibition about the history of life on Earth. From 1989 to 1990 he was a postdoctoral research associate in the department of botany at the University of Adelaide in Australia. He was a marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in California from 1982 to 1983, and he has been a research associate at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle since 1991.
Johnson’s research includes the study of the geology and fossil plants of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains from 34 to 145 million years ago. He also studies the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary extinction event and the origin of major ecological communities known as biomes.
Between October 2010 and July 2011, he led an excavation in Snowmass Village, Colo., that recovered more than 5,400 bones of mammoths, mastodons and other ice age animals. Bright, funny and a delightful human being, Kirk Johnson is a leader in his field and beyond. He has collaborated on numerous projects including two recent documentaries, “Making North America” (2015) and “Polar Extremes” (2019).
His recent books include “Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline: The Travels of an Artist and a Scientist along the Shores of the Prehistoric Pacific” (2018); “Visions of Lost Worlds, the Paleoart of Jay Matternes” (2019); and “Trees are made of Gas, The Story of Carbon and Climate” (2021). He has two NOVA specials coming out that we will include links to shortly. We'll also include a link to the Smithsonian's Paleobotany Data Set.
Johnson is lives in Washington, D.C., and is originally from Bellevue, Washington where a love of fossil plants gripped him — and never let go!
CHECK OUT THE CRUISIN' FOSSIL ROADTRIP GOODNESS HERE:
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Fossil Road Trip? Heck, Yeah!Who's up for a fossil road trip? Paleoartist Ray Troll and paleobotanist Kirk Johnson published a travelogue of their journey to check out the fossils of the American west called Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway. Not your average paleo book, it is filled with Troll's whimsical pop-art illustrations (how many dinosaur books feature sauropods crossing the road?) and Johnson's entertaining descriptions of their journey, the book is simultaneously entertaining and informative.
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