April’s Great Basin Chapter monthly meeting (online only) will feature speaker William Jude Hart, BS from Hofstra University Research Associate & Alumnus, East Tennessee State University. His talk will be on April 9th, 7:00 pm. This will be an online only meeting.

Please join us that evening by using this link: https://meet.google.com/dfd-xeto-qdu

Will’s talk is titled: Requiem for Accurate Reconstruction of Dinosaurian Ecosystems. Integration of four overarching research themes is paramount in addressing the fundamental underpinnings of vertebrate evolution throughout the fossil record and into the modern day: field paleontology, osteological correlates of soft-tissue, paleoecology throughout time and space, and comparative phylogenetics. The scope of this talk covers recent research aimed at evaluating the application of modern food-web reconstruction, assessing ecosystem stability, and understanding the interplay between paleoecology and geological data by utilizing the Morrison Formation as a case study.

A little more about William: William Jude Hart is a Master’s student at East Tennessee State University and a Research associate at Hofstra University, studying vertebrate paleontology. After digging in the Morrison Formation of Colorado and Utah, and joining an international team led by Dr. Cassius Morrison, Will has only just begun to unravel the potential dynamics of lost worlds from the bygone age of reptiles alongside his colleagues. When not working on the Morrison Formation, Will studies for his Master’s thesis the postcranial ontogeny and growth of fossil tapirs from North America, while under Hofstra University, he studies the Cretaceous strata of Long Island, New York. In between, he also currently broadly studies tapir life history, pinniped bite force, pathologies and soft-tissue of the vertebral column, marine reptile ecosystems, and tetanuran theropods. Will is interested in pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in the not-too-distant future.