|
Famed OHIO
paleontologist to
speak at Front Room
Café
Dinosaur
researcher to appear
on five National
Geographic Channel
programs in as many
days
By Matt Bates
Oct. 8, 2009
Ohio University’s
world-renowned
paleontologist
Lawrence Witmer,
Ph.D., will
present “Fleshing
Out Dinosaur
Evolution” at the
Baker University
Center Front Room
Café Wednesday, Oct.
14, as part of Ohio
University’s new
Science Café series.
The free
presentation begins
at 5 p.m. and is
open to the
university community
and general public.
Witmer often appears
on television shows
and documentaries on
both the Discovery
Channel and the
National Geographic
Channel, where he
speaks as an expert
on prehistoric
anatomy. Over the
next week, five
National Geographic
Channel programs
will feature
interviews with
Witmer, including:
-
“Prehistoric
Predators:
Terror
Birds”
–
Friday,
Oct.
9,
12:00
p.m.
-
“Bizarre
Dinosaurs”
–
Sunday,
Oct.
11,
8:00
p.m.
-
“Prehistoric
Predators:
Razor
Jaws”
–
Monday,
Oct.
12,
8:00
p.m.
-
“Prehistoric
Predators:
Killer
Pig”
–
Monday,
Oct.
12,
9:00
p.m.
-
“Bizarre
Dinosaurs”
–
Tuesday,
Oct.
13,
8:00
p.m.
Witmer, professor of
anatomy and Chang
Ying-Chien Professor
of Paleontology at
the Ohio University
College of
Osteopathic
Medicine, was
recently awarded a
$180,000 research
grant from the
National Science
Foundation (NSF) to
continue his work on
“Brain evolution in
archosaurs: New
implications for
scaling, function,
and the evolution of
the modern
conditions in birds
and crocodilians.”
This grant is Witmer’s
latest in a series
of NSF-sponsored
research projects,
each of which has
focused on a
different anatomical
system of dinosaurs.
This award allows
Witmer to further
explore the brain
and apply what he
has uncovered about
the size and
temperature
regulation of
archosaur brains to
new topics, such as
how brain evolution
influenced flight in
the ancestors of
birds. Altogether,
Witmer has received
seven NSF grants.
Witmer’s lab was
among the first to
apply CT scanning
and computer
visualization to
paleontological
research. He uses
the technology to
create a 3-D image
of bone cavities,
allowing him to
“fill in” the
missing soft
tissue—a procedure
he calls “fleshing
out” the fossils.
These methods are
now being adopted by
other researchers.
Using these
technologies, Witmer
also compares the
anatomy of modern
animals with
prehistoric fossils
to reveal how
ancient beasts may
have lived and
evolved. In his
words, this research
looks beyond “the
narrow time-plane in
which we live” to
broaden our
understanding of
previous anatomical
systems.
Witmer’s continued
funding reflects on
several qualities of
his research that
appeal to the NSF:
broad intellectual
appeal, development
of new applications
for existing
technology,
specialized training
for high school and
college students,
and public
education.
Witmer views his
public and
television
appearances not only
as a way of giving
back to the
taxpayers who fund a
lot of his research,
but also as a way to
engage the public
with science during
a time when the
numbers of
science-related
professionals in the
U.S. are declining.
“It might be the
most important thing
I do: to interact
with kids and their
parents,” says
Witmer. “I actually
try to pay more
attention to the
adults,” says Witmer,
expressing that
adults need to be
educated and excited
about science to
sustain scientific
curiosity in
children and to
support science
education in public
school curricula.
|
