April 24,, 2008
Lyon College News Bureau
Lyon students learn fossil collecting techniques
Eight Lyon College biology students and their instructor, Dr. Han Chuan Ong, recently visited the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma.
At the museum, they were given a lecture and tour by Dr. Richard Cifelli, who is the curator and a world-renowned paleontologist. Kyle Davies, the museum preparator, also gave a brief demonstration of fossil preparation and processing technique.
The students toured several rare fossil collections, most of which have never been displayed to the general public. Examples include complete fossils of
Apatosaurus (popularly known as Brontosaurus), woolly mammoth, marine dinosaurs, some micro vertebrates, and coprolites (fossilized dinosaur droppings).This field trip is part of the "Special Topics: Evolution (BIO420)" class taught by Dr. Ong.
Kyle Davie, the museum preparator, demonstrates fossil excavation techniques to Chris Schmitt, Camille Chan, Aaron Baldridge, Neil McCarthy, Cody Crymes, and Jedediah Smith.
Lyon College students stand in front of a life-size replica of a woolly mammoth at the San Noble Museum of Natural History.