Fossils, ‘Elvis’ Dinosaur Highlighted During Exclusive Field Museum Event

Alumni were encouraged to closely examine, and even touch, fossils during an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour. Photo courtesy of Laura Wills.

Alumni were encouraged to closely examine, and even touch, fossils during an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour.

Alumni event included chats with experts, private lab tour

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

The Cryolophosaurus wasn’t the brainiest creature to prowl Jurassic-era Antarctica, but it was a formidable predator with a rock-star look. The first carnivorous dinosaur discovered in Antarctica, it was one of the largest theropods of its time, but today, it’s best known for the distinctive crest it sported on its head—a pompadour-like swoop that earned this dinosaur the nickname “Elvisasaurus.” Chicago-area Dickinson College alumni, and several students, recently learned all about this king of the early Jurassic—and much more—during a regional event highlighting never-before-seen fossils that shed light on our planet’s changing climate and geology.

A peek behind the scenes

Held at the world-renowned Field Museum, the July 29 regional alumni event centered on a current exhibition, Antarctic Dinosaurs. It began with a talk by Marcus Key, Joseph Priestley Professor of Natural Philosophy, about the role that natural history museums can play in educating the public and on preserving biodiversity as well as the role of climate change in evolution. Lisa Geiger ’08, a museum employee, then treated fellow alumni to an insider’s account of how museum staff brought the fossils—some uncovered as recently as 2011—to the museum.

Geiger, a double major in archaeology and classical studies at Dickinson, helped to dismantle the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as “Sue” last February—a painstaking monthlong process—and then remove it from its spot in the Field Museum’s Stanley Hall. The skeleton, which measures 40.5 feet long from snout to tail and is 13 feet tall at the hip, is the largest and most complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered. It is off display until next spring, when it will be highlighted in an upstairs gallery as part of the museum’s permanent "Evolving Planet" exhibition, which will include new scientific discoveries unveiled about the dinosaur’s biology since Sue first arrived at the museum in 2000. (A titanosaur from Argentina will occupy Sue’s former spot.)

After chatting with Geiger, the alumni attended the public exhibition, which included fossils unearthed as recently as 2011 and a glimpse at life in the Antarctic during the dinosaur age. Immediately after, Scott Lidgard, head of earth sciences at the Field Museum, delivered a private, behind-the-scenes collections tour, representing 340 million years of the Earth's history and a peek at a working laboratory where fossil vertebrates are prepared for study and display. Alumni were permitted to touch some of the invertebrate fossils in the collection.

Opportunities ahead

Melissa Warner '61 and her husband, Jay, braved a two-hour drive from Wisconsin just to attend the event. "It was worth it, construction and all," she says, noting that she and Jay enjoy learning about natural history and that they once participated in a "Dinosaur Dig" with Milwaukee Public Museum. "I was amazed at the detail with which Lisa monitored Sue’s move from the main floor to an exhibit of her own, and I could have spent hours oohing and ahing over the invertebrate fossils in the museum collection."

Amelia Deering ’21 (history, German), a Chicagoan who’s interested in museum careers, also attended. “As an undergrad, it is usually impossible to get beyond the public-facing institution and understand what it means to actually work in these world-class museums and galleries, so I was thrilled when the opportunity came along to use Dickinson’s connections to get the inside scoop on the Field Museum, a place I have visited dozens of times since childhood but never really understood,” she said. “I now feel much more knowledgeable about the field I wish to enter, and I have contacts who will be able to help me as I continue my college and professional career.”

The daylong event was just one of the alumni regional events held this summer, most recently in Boston, where alumni attended a Career Conversations gathering, and in Avalon, New Jersey, site of an alumni sunset cruise. Upcoming events include a Dickinson-in-Pittsburgh baseball game, pitting the home team against the Chicago Cubs (Aug. 17); a MUSE/IQUE concert in Los Angeles (Aug. 25); an NYC women’s luncheon at the home of Amy Nauiokas ’94 (Sept. 27); a tour of the Disney Museum and animation workshop with Antonia Valdes Dapena-Tretter ’04 in San Francisco (Oct. 6); a talk on midterm elections, with Assistant Professor of Political Science David O’Connell, in Washington, D.C. (Oct. 16); an SNL: The Experience Tour in Chicago (Nov. 3); and a performance at Baltimore Center Stage (Nov. 11).

The college is also hosting several regional Summer Send-Offs for incoming students and alumni in August.

Learn more

Published August 3, 2018