Sunday September 27, ~9:30 GMT

Wow it is amazing how fate has the power to bring people together! I know that sounds like a Hallmark card, but so what. I should be well on my way home by now, but I’m still in London. My flight was postponed ~24 hours due to engine issues; [...]]]>

Sunday September 27, ~9:30 GMT

Wow it is amazing how fate has the power to bring people together! I know that sounds like a Hallmark card, but so what. I should be well on my way home by now, but I’m still in London. My flight was postponed ~24 hours due to engine issues; better they figured that out now then when we were over Greenland. Yes I was annoyed, and stressed, but in classic cinema style, the crisis has brought a group of complete strangers together. While rushing around London, Heathrow airport after the announcement of out flight postponement, I fell in with a group of ragtag individuals, who I hope to keep as lifelong friends. We shared the experience of being put up for the night in the airport hotel, and trying to get back to Minneapolis where we will all go out separate ways.

On a side I suppose you all tuned in to hear the end of the SVP Conference in Bristol, it all ended last night with “paleo nerds gone wild” at the after party as the Royal Merriot Hotel in Bristol. Tthat is all I will say about that, you know what they say: “what happens at SVP, stays at SVP”!

Chears!

Monday, September 28 – Still in England!

Ok I realy can’t complain, it is better to find out the plane is having engine problems while still on the ground, instead of over Greenland, but my flight was delayed 24 hours. They did put us up in a hotel, gave us dinner and breakfast, and i did make some good friends. It was kind of like a movie where an freak event brings a bunch of strangers together and all the stuff. But now I’m off to MSP/STP International Airport and then back to Rapid City, see you all tomorrow in class!

I need some sleep, Nite Y’all!

Paleo Geeks CAN dance!

Hello again from the Land of the Queen. Since I last wrote a lot has happened for  me, some of which you will have to wait to learn about when it get published . I will share that Ryan Tucker presented his poster, which I understand went very well, it was certainly, [...]]]> Sept 26th ~3:30 GMT

Hello again from the Land of the Queen. Since I last wrote a lot has happened for  me, some of which you will have to wait to learn about when it get published . I will share that Ryan Tucker presented his poster, which I understand went very well, it was certainly, in my opinion, better done by some of those put together by “professionals”.

After the poster presentations, I helped the auction people set up for the silent auction. there were many interesting things to make bids on, from rare article re-prints to hours of prep time to dinosaur tattoos. Pat Monaco even auctioned herself off as a field camp cook. Following the silent part of the auction, and some social time, we had a live auction. What started out as a fairly standard auction with local British society member auctioneer in a tux, was quickly taken ovey Python’s King Artur and crew, taking off by Mont some time form their search for the Holy Grail.

Yes that is Ryan Tucker as the Night Who says NEE!

Well, I think the last time I wrote I was off to the student round table session. This was a VERY good move! If you are serious about making paleo your life, you NEED to attend SVP ASAP and go to this! I chatted with John Merck, who like myself was a [...]]]> Friday Sept 25, ~3:30 GMT

Well, I think the last time I wrote I was off to the student round table session. This was a VERY good move! If you are serious about making paleo your life, you NEED to attend SVP ASAP and go to this! I chatted with John Merck, who like myself was a “mid-life crisis” convert to vert paleo, as well as his colleague Thom Holtz (you Dino people should know him!), between the two of them they help me plan out my Senior and Master’s research. Strangely the “Dino” Jason might be working on mammals!

On another note the sessions are going good, and very informative! I actually can follow along with the “big wigs” so that is good. Soon it will be time for SDSM&T’s own Ryan Tucker to present his Poster, I will get pics. I will also get pictures of the auction later this evening, in which Ryan will be dressed as a character from Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

well as i sign off for now i will leave you ALL with a bit of advice. If you are serious about Paleo and not a “fan-boy” you MUST come to SVP next year, ESPECIALLY the Undergrad!

Cheery O Mates!

p.s. to see ALL my Bristol pics go to My Facebook page i don’t think you have to be on my friends list to see them, but feel free to friend me if you like.

Tea Time @ session Break

Well as some of you may or may not know this trip to Bristol, UK is my first trip out of the US… in fact it is my first trip on a plane! I left Rapid City Airport @ around 3:30 Monday, and arrived around 5:30 (CST) in Minneapolis [...]]]>

Paddington Train Station in London

Tuesday Sept 22

Well as some of you may or may not know this trip to Bristol, UK is my first trip out of the US… in fact it is my first trip on a plane! I left Rapid City Airport @ around 3:30 Monday, and arrived around 5:30 (CST) in Minneapolis for my transfer to London. My plane out of Minneapolis was originally scheduled to leave @ 9:30 but was postponed a little and we left closer to 10:15. It was a night flight, so I was not able to lookout, plus I had the aisle seat, next to a lady who was a real seat hog! But the flight was nice, each seat had its own video screen w/headphones, so I watched an episode of family guy and Dr. Who (to get my Brit on) as well as the Movie Watchmen.

arrived @ the London-Heathrow airport around 12 GMT… that is 5 am MST. I got through the passport phase and at this point, being a newbie international traveler I had a bit of an adventure. It was my goal (and I really should have planed more) to “hope a train to Bristol”, well to do this I had to ride the subway around the airport to get to the right terminal (#5) where I could purchase a ticket to the famous Paddington station in Central London. This was a ticket for the trip to Paddington, and then to return to Heathrow from Paddington on Sunday. At Paddington station I was able to purchase, for an additional £46 another set of go and return tickets from Paddington to Bristol. And that is where I sit now typing this section, on the train to Bristol, it is almost 2:30 GMT, the train has a FULL snack care, “adult beverages” and all, I however am only partaking at the moment in a Coke.

Wednesday Sept 23

Well yesterday I made it to Bristol. I took a wild cab ride from the train station to the hotel. After clearing up that YES I do have a room, I got in to find I had not internet (not even an unsecured connection to steal) and NO PHONE. Advice to travelers Travel Lodge is Cheap, but you get what you pay for, pay a little more and get internet, phone and more than 5 TV channels! Had not eaten since “breakfast” on the plane so I went to the “bar” in the hotel to get some food, and had the worse pizza in my life (pepperoni with a side of ketchup packets!). Slept very well, in fact I slept through my wake-up knock (did I mention no clock in the room either) or they failed to wake me up, either way I woke up an hour and a half late.

Ok well I walked up and found the university of Bristol Campus and got registered in, went to a few talks on marine reptiles and then hooked up with Ryan Tucker for lunch at the “White Lion” pub, if was a bit of a walk but the food and Guinness was good. I am now back on the campus in the vender’s hall, getting ready to head off to more talks.

From Michelle: I thought it would be great to pass the word around about the 2nd annual Fossil Preparation and Collections Symposium, being hosted at the Tate Museum [...]]]> I am posting this at Michelle Pinsdorf’s request. There will be several people from here going, and again we should be able to provide transportation.

From Michelle: I thought it would be great to pass the word around about the 2nd annual Fossil Preparation and Collections Symposium, being hosted at the Tate Museum in Casper this summer. The conference runs from June 5-7th, is nice and close by, offers discounts on hotel rooms, and has a sliding scale of registration fees depending on the days and activities one wants to participate in.

The website for the symposium is here: http://www.caspercollege.edu/tate/index.html
(click the “Activities” tab and then click the “Annual Summer Conference” bar), while the schedule of events and speakers is here: http://www.caspercollege.edu/tate/downloads/2009_tateconf_schedule.pdf
and the registration form is here: http://www.caspercollege.edu/tate/downloads/2009_tate_registration.pdf

I’d very much like to go, and would be happy to make plans with others to split driving, rooms, etc., so I think this might be a good thing to announce in class and/or just around the department in general, before everyone goes everywhere for the summer.

The 8th Conference on Fossil Resources will be held May 19-21 in St. George, Utah. Information from their site is posted below. This will be immediately followed by a 2-day symposium on ‘Advances in Late Cretaceous paleontology in the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument’ in the same venue (May 22-23, the Dixie Center). The Museum [...]]]>

The 8th Conference on Fossil Resources will be held May 19-21 in St. George, Utah. Information from their site is posted below. This will be immediately followed by a 2-day symposium on ‘Advances in Late Cretaceous paleontology in the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument’ in the same venue (May 22-23, the Dixie Center). The Museum of Geology is taking a group of students to this. Only transportation costs for those students riding in the van can be covered by the Museum. Early registration unfortunately has ended, but there is room for 1 or 2 more students in the van. We will camp out on the way down and on the way back, and you are responsible for your gear, food, and lodging costs. It will be a great opportunity to see Utah geology and paleontology. If you are interested, please contact Sally.

About the Conferences on Fossil Resources:

The Conference on Fossil Resources convenes periodically to provide an opportunity for public land managers, professional scientists and interested amateurs to come together to discuss successes, discoveries and land management policy to protect and enhance our Nation’s paleontological resources. Through collaboration, we seek to maximize scientific, educational and recreational opportunities on our public lands.

The 2009 conference will be the eighth time this group has convened.

The 8th CFR will be attended by representatives from various
government agencies, professional paleontologists, students and interested parties from several countries. Sessions will be held on the following topics:

. Paleontological research on public lands
. Permitting and museum collections
. Partnerships in management and research
. Law enforcement and fossil protection
. Education stewardship and public involvement
. International perspectives

The conference will also include field trips and social / networking events.

More information at:
http://www.8cfr.org
http://www.learningfromtheland.org/cretaceousconference/