Full-time summer support for Navajo undergraduate students in northwestern New Mexico and Albuquerque

Post Date: June 9 2015

Full-time summer support for Navajo undergraduate students in northwestern New Mexico and Albuquerque for 2015-2016

Dr. Tom Williamson is conducting paleontological and geological research into the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (the extinction that brought an end to the Age of Reptiles; also known as the K-Pg Boundary) and the ecological recovery that followed based on the fossil record in northwestern New Mexico. He is working with an international team of geologists and paleontologists on a 3-year (2013-2016) project funded by the National Science Foundation to study the New Mexico record of the early Paleocene to look for possible links between faunal change and climate during the first few million years following the K-Pg Boundary. This grant includes support to hire at least two undergraduate students full time ($10/hr., first year) through at least the summer of 2015. Students will provide field assistance (fieldwork includes an additional $25/day per-diem support) while they look for- and collect early Paleocene fossils, collect rock samples, and make geological observations. Students will also work as lab assistants in his lab at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque. Lab work will include preparation and curation of fossil specimens. This activity will provide valuable and exciting experience in cutting-edge paleontological research. No previous experience is necessary. There is also an opportunity to attend a scientific meeting, all expenses paid (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology) in 2016.

Dr. Tom Williamson can supply field gear (e.g., tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, etc.). The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is located near Old Town, Albuquerque (http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/).

Please contact Dr. Tom Williamson if you have any questions- thomas.williamson@state.nm.us