President's Message
For the past two months, TBFC has depended on Dr. Bob Sinibaldi for both TBFC meetings. In December, Dr. Bob, as he’s known to all of us, was on hand to host our scholarship Auction, and at the January meeting he was TBFC’s guest speaker.
Dr. Bob gave a great presentation on the morphology of fossilized teeth explaining just how much a single tooth can tell us about a species. Though most of the material Dr. Bob used in his presentation was right out of the research notes and photographs from his University Press of Florida book, What Your Fossils Can Tell You, he had only days to put the presentation together. Due to some scheduling changes, a previously scheduled speaker was unable to present. With little notice Dr. Bob stepped in and put together a very informative and interesting presentation. And for that, we thank him.
Dr. Bob Sinibaldi Receives Prestigious
Florida Museum of Natural History’s
Howard Converse Award
As it turns out, Dr. Bob will share the spotlight at TBFC’s
February meeting too. I am very proud to report to you that
Dr. Bob has been selected by the Florida Museum of Natural History
(FLMNH) to receive the 2012 Howard Converse Award for outstanding
contributions to Florida Paleontology.
Just hours before the January meeting I spoke with Dr. Richard Hulbert who informed me that Dr. Bob was being recognized with the award. He suggested I make the announcement at that night’s TBFC meeting. Word travels fast in the paleo-community, so we wanted Dr. Bob to get the good news at a TBFC event. Dr. Bruce Macfadden from the FLMNH will make a plaque presentation during his February 4th visit with TBFC.
Dr. Bob is recognized for his strong support of the FLMNH and his numerous specimen donations. His most outstanding contribution is, of course, his most recent book on fossils, What Your Fossils Can Tell You: Vertebrate Morphology, Pathology, and Cultural Modification.
The Converse Award is presented yearly to recognize an individual from the non-professional paleontological ranks who has made outstanding contributions to Florida paleontology. The award is named in honor of Howard Converse, former preparator at the FLMNH. Award recipients are selected by the museum paleontology staff and their names are inscribed on a large permanent plaque which hangs in the museum.
What Your Fossils Can Tell You is not just a well-thought writing and comprehensive source of information. It combines Dr. Bob’s knowledge and research of fossil bone with input from both the professional and amateur paleontology community. It’s an outstanding example of what can be accomplished when both the professional and amateur have a deep respect for the science of paleontology and work together. The book continues to bridge the gap between the amateur and professional in a State that already has the best vertebrate paleontology program in the Country.
What Your Fossils Can Tell You demonstrates to the amateur the importance of collecting in a responsible manner, making proper reports of specimens, and cooperating with the professional community. The book will encourage the amateur to not simply collect for the sake of curiosity, but to truly participate in the science of paleontology.
Dr. Bob is an accomplished Florida fossil hunter with numerous donations to the Florida Museum of Natural History. In addition to What Your Fossils Can Tell You, he has authored Fossil Diving: In Florida's Waters or Any Other Waters that Contain Prehistoric Treasures, and A Guide to Paleontological Terms. He is an active Director and past President of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club.
February 4th TBFC Meeting
Dr. Bruce MacFadden
Fossils in the Clouds
For TBFC’s February meeting we welcome back Dr. Bruce MacFadden,
Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the FLMNH.
About 100 million fossils are stored in research collections all over the US. Only a tiny fraction of these are ever placed on exhibit for the public to appreciate. Many remain behind closed doors with limited access. Dr. MacFadden’s presentation will describe the new iDigBio program located at the University of Florida. Over the next 10 years, iDigBio will coordinate the uploading of natural history specimen images (including fossils) and associated data from over 500 U.S. institutions to a cloud portal (like iCloud, or Dropbox, or other virtual storage). In so doing, fossils, and other natural history specimens, will become more widely available to scientists, educators, and the general public.
Bruce MacFadden was raised in suburban New York. He received the B. S., with honors, in General Science from Cornell University (1971), and M. Ph. (1974) and Ph. D. (1976) degrees in Geological Sciences (paleontology) from Columbia University. After one year as a Gibbs Instructor at Yale University, he moved to the Florida Museum of Natural History (1977) as a Vertebrate Paleontology curator. His current position is as Associate Director in charge of Exhibits & Public Programs and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. He also holds joint appointments in the UF geology and zoology departments. Bruce has taught courses in physical and historical geology, paleomagnetism, evolution, and vertebrate paleontology. Honors and awards include President of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (1986-88), scientific advisor to Cambridge University Press (1993-present), Fulbright Senior Research Fellow (1993-94) in Bolivia, and Honorary Professor at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, La Paz, Bolivia, and Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also is currently Adjunct Professor of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah. Since 1991 Bruce has directed the Pony Express fossil outreach program at the FLMNH. During his career Bruce has been the Project Director of more than two million dollars of externally funded grants and the author of more than 100 refereed scientific articles, and the book entitled Fossil Horses (1992, Cambridge University Press). Bruce's current research interests principally deal with chemical analyses of fossil mammal teeth to reconstruct ancient diets, terrestrial communities, and global change.
FossilFest 2012
March 24th & 25th, 2012
At the time of this writing, FossilFest 2012 is just 60 days away.
As I’ve reported to you before, the majority of funds TBFC operates on throughout the year are generated at FossilFest. The event is important to TBFC, not just because of the financial earnings though, almost all of the media coverage TBFC gets through the year occurs during the weeks leading up to FossilFest.
Any help you can provide in volunteering, or the donation of needed items is greatly appreciated. Please help make FossilFest 2012 another great and record breaking event!
Over the next couple of months I’ll be running information here in my message asking you for donations of both fossil related items and your time. Both will be needed to make FossilFest a success.
Volunteers - We will need to staff FossilFest for three days. Everything begins with set-up on Friday morning, March 23rd, and will end with break-down on Sunday afternoon. You can volunteer for as little as three hours, or for the entire weekend. We have a job to suit everyone’s capabilities. Volunteers will receive a free FossilFest t-shirt, free admission and free parking! Plus, I give you the TBFC Presidential Guarantee that you’ll enjoy a weekend spent meeting other paleo-enthusiasts and helping teach our community about Florida’s exciting pre-history. Please contact Seina Searle at (813) 909-9358, or tampabayfossilclub@msn.com to schedule your volunteer session. You can also speak with Seina at the February or March meetings if you have any questions.
Silent Auction - TBFC needs donations of fossil and “paleo” related items for the silent auction. Do you have a few extra Metaxytherium or Platygonus teeth lying around? How about too many megalodons for your shelf to handle? We’ll take’em! Any fossil or fossil related items including books, rocks, shells, or minerals are great for the silent auction. Please go through your collections to see if you can find any fossils that you can spare. Director Phil Mathes will be running the Silent Auction and accepting donations at any TBFC meeting leading up to FossilFest, or you can drop them off on the morning FossilFest begins. It will sure help Phil get the Silent Auction items prepared though, if he can get them in advance.
Kid’s Fossil Sand Mine - The fossil mine is a huge hit with the children who visit FossilFest. If you haven’t already, you need to take the time to stand by the pit for a while and watch these kids digging for fossils. It’s unbelievable how excited they get (and how much they learn). TBFC needs both scrap fossils and identifiable fossils to throw into the pit. Please take the time to "dig" out some donations for the kids. To make donations to the kid’s fossil mine, please see Matt or Danielle Moore at any of the meetings leading up to FossilFest, or bring the donations along with you to FossilFest. It is very helpful to get these fossils in advance too, as they will need to be sorted prior to going into the pit.
Display Cases - This is a great opportunity to show off the fossils that you and your family have found. The display cases are also important as they educate the public and get new folks excited to learn that they can find these same prehistoric treasures. Make signs and labels for your fossils, use photos, get creative, and decorate your case to attract a crowd! You can sign-up for a display case with George Overhuls at a TBFC meeting, or drop him an email at: du12746@verizon.net
Please help us with advertising! If you know anyone who may be interested in FossilFest, please take the time to tell them about our event. Forward FossilFest information to your email contacts. If your child can take flyers to their school, please don’t hesitate to ask for as many as you may need. If you would like some FossilFest flyers to pass out to friends and neighbors, please see me at the meeting or contact me (fossilnerd@msn.com). And if you know someone who owns a television or radio station, give me a call!
Good hunting everybody!
Michael Searle