Our Speakers

Bruce Baldwin http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/people/baldwin.html

Bruce Baldwin is an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and curator of the Jepson Herbarium at UC Berkeley. His research focuses on patterns and processes of evolution in the Californian and Hawaiian floras, with a special interest in lineages that span continental and oceanic-island systems. Bruce’s principal efforts have been to re-examine general evolutionary and biogeographic hypotheses in light of new perspectives offered by molecular phylogenetic and experimental approaches. Much of his work has centered on the Californian tarweeds and Hawaiian silversword alliance, which provide diverse examples of how plants from a common lineage underwent evolutionary change in highly contrasting environments. Bruce received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 1989.

Bill Clemens http://ib.berkeley.edu/faculty/clemensw.html

Bill Clemens is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and the Interim Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley. Beginning with a study of the North American mammals that lived with the last of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the scope of Bill’s research interests has expanded in both time and space. Continuing studies in Europe deal with the origins and diversification of the earliest mammals. Currently his research is focused on fossil localities in northeastern Montana that document the complex history of mammalian evolution during the first million years after the extinction of dinosaurs, other than birds. Bill received his Ph.D. from the University of California in 1960 and taught at the University of Kansas before returning to Berkeley in 1967.

Todd Dawson http://ib.berkeley.edu/faculty/dawsont.html

Todd Dawson is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and the director of the Center for Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry at UC Berkeley. He has been investigating the relationship between plants and water resources in the environment for over 20 years and has worked in deserts and savannas, in the arctic and alpine, and in forests across North America, Australia, Chile, Brazil and Europe. Currently, Todd’s research group is working in the redwood forests and oak woodlands of California investigating the role of fog water and summertime drought for the water use behaviors of the trees and the hydrology of the different forest types. A great deal of Todd’s work has focused on the unique adaptations plants posses in relation to the constraints they face in getting access to adequate water resources for growth and reproduction or how the water resources they can obtain influence plant distribution. Todd received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1987.

David Howell http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/wgmt/sfbay/howell.html

David Howell is a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. His interests involve the growth and shaping of continents, the world-wide distribution of oil and gas and the risk posed by natural hazards. For the past decade he has developed game simulations, maps, puzzles, interactive websites, teaching modules and the usual types of publications to help societies appreciate earth process, their vulnerabilities to natural hazards and an understanding of energy and the environment. A recent endeavor, in collaboration with his long-term colleague Jonathan Swinchatt, is a book: The Winemakers Dance—exploring terroir in the Napa Valley, the general topic for Sunday’s field trip. He is currently teaching a course at Stanford University, “Understanding energy,” which uses his newly released two-disk DVD, Perspectives on energy: Discussions of resources, technology, economics and policy. David has a B.A. from Colgate University and a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara.

David Jacobs http://www.ioe.ucla.edu/faculty/DJacobs.htm

David Jacobs is a professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. Dave has worked on geological, paleontological and biological questions ranging from the impacts of climate change in the geologic past on sea-level and global marine diversity, to the form and function of fossil shells. Current research in his lab involves the use of molecular aspects of development to understand the Cambrian Radiation of animal form, and the examination of speciation and diversification processes of marine organisms.

Kent Lightfoot http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/lightfoot.html

Kent Lightfoot is currently a Professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Berkeley. As an archaeologist who has spent the last 25 years working in New England, the American Southwest, and the Pacific Coast of North America, he specializes in the study of coastal hunter-gatherer peoples, culture contact research, and the archaeology of colonialism. Since joining the Berkeley faculty in 1987, much of his research has focused on prehistoric Native Californian peoples and their later encounters with early European explorers and colonists. He works primarily in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. His recent archaeological investigations have focused on the prehistoric shell mounds, Spanish settlements, and the Russian Colony of Fort Ross, where a collaborative team of UC Berkeley, California State Park, and Kashaya Pomo scholars are considering the long-term implications of multi-ethnic interactions between Russians, Native Alaskans, and Native Californians in this colonial community.

David Lindberg https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/davidl/lindberg.html

David R. Lindberg is the Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology and past Director of the UC Museum of Paleontology (UCMP). His research interests focus on the evolution of select organisms (mostly Mollusca), and the resultant interactions between organisms and their habitats through time. He has done research and field work for more than 15 years along much of the eastern Pacific margin. Additionally he is the PI on three K-12 outreach projects at UCMP, focusing on the use of technology to increase access to scientific resources. He received a PhD in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.


Resources referenced by our Speakers

A Tapestry of Time and Terrain – a beautiful map that depicts the topography and geology of the United States.
http://tapestry.usgs.gov/default.html

To oder a poster version of the tapestry, please see:
http://tapestry.usgs.gov/na-info.html

To order a jigsaw puzzle version of this map, please see:
http://www.cascience.org/Tapestry.pdf

Mt. Diablo Interpretative Association - MDIA has a number of programs that are designed to enhance the public’s appreciation of the mountain.
http://www.mdia.org/

PaleoPortal – a collaboration among UCMP, the USGS, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and the Paleontological Society. Though still “under construction,” this site allows you to explore the geologic and paleontologic history of the United States.
http://www.paleoportal.org

The La Brea Tar Pits
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/labrea.html

The UCMP Web Time Machine – explore the geology wing of our virtual museum that focuses on geologic time, changes in life through time, and the locations where fossils have been found.
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) –A Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment.
http://www.usgs.gov

Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic Reptiles of California by Richard P. Hilton
This book is available online through UC Press at:
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9619.html

 

Sunday Field Trip Photos

Click for a small collection of photographs from our field trip on Sunday.


Return to the main page for Uniqueness that is California.

 


Home  |   What's new  |   About UCMP  |   History of life  |   Collections  |   Other resources

Credits button UCMP logo Copyright symbol