Previous Programs
October 5, 2026
The last American giant: the sauropod Alamosaurus and the end of the Age of Dinosaurs
John Fronimos, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geosciences, Auburn University
September 14, 2026
Form, Function, and Fangs: An Introduction to Dental Heterodonty in Sharks, Rays, and Skates
Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center
August 3, 2026
Fossil plant pathology reveals how ancient ecosystems work
Rebecca DeKoster, Postgraduate Fellow, University of Alabama
July 13, 2026
Dinosaur CSI
Joseph "Paleo Joe" Kchodl
June 1, 2026
LOOK OUT BELOW! Alabama's Crazy History with Meteors
Dr. Lawrence Krumenaker, Astronomer and Science Journalist
May 11, 2026
A Revised Calcareous Nannofossil Zonation Across the K/Pg Boundary of the Gulf Coast (Southcentral Alabama), USA
Dr. Andy Bowman, Stratigrapher, Alabama Geological Survey
April 6, 2026
What's Happening at the St George Dinosaur Discovery Site?
Andrew Milner, Lead Paleontologist at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site in Utah
March 2, 2026
Digging Dinosaurs in the American West
Jim Braswell, APS President, and Prescott Atkinson, APS Vice President
February 2, 2026
Polishing Amber - A Window in Time
Ashley Allen, APS Field Trip Coordinator
January 5, 2026
Chondrichthyans of the Early Carboniferous Bangor Limestone, north Alabama
Chase Egli, Masters Degree Candidate, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama
December 8, 2025
What happened to crustaceans when non-flying dinosaurs became extinct?
Adiel Klompmaker, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Department of Museum Research and Collections, University of Alabama Museums
November 3, 2025
Breathing new life into early animals - three dimensional reconstructions of early Cambrian arthropods from China
Javier Ortega-Hernandez, PhD, Assoc. Prof. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
October 13, 2025
Reading the Rocks: Trace Fossils of the Silurian Red Mountain Formation
Andy Rindsberg, PhD, Professor of Biological & Environmental Sciences at the University of West Alabama
September 13, 2025
Anatomy of a Coal Mine, Walker County, Alabama
Ron Buta, PhD, Professor emeritus of Astronomy, University of Alabama
August 4, 2025
Wetumpka Impact Crater – Alabama’s Worst Natural Disaster
James Lowery, APS Member
July 7, 2025
Evolution, Environment, Drought, Frost: Insights from the Plant Fossil Record
Jonathan Wilson, PhD, Endowed Professor of Environmental Biology, Haverford College
June 2, 2025
Well-Preserved Specimen of Fossil Sea Turtle from Orange County, California, Sheds Light on the Evolution of Pelagic Specializations
Tristan Stock, MS, Graduate Paleontology Student at California State University, Fullerton
May 12, 2025
Geochemical Explorations of Western Interior Seaway Ammonites
Jessie McCraw, PhD Candidate in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama
April 7, 2025
Rethinking Mass Extinctions
Spencer Lucas, PhD, Curator of Geology and Paleontology, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
Mar 10, 2025
A new leatherback marine turtle from the Oligocene of Alabama
Drew Gentry, PhD, Alabama School of Math and Science
Feb 3, 2025
Deep-diving Adaptations of Aquatic Sauropsids, Inferences from the Alabama Fossil Record
Mike Burns, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology, Jacksonville State University
Jan 6, 2025
The Fauna of the Early Oligocene Section (Vicksburg Group) in Central Mississippi
George Phillips, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
Dec 9, 2024
Late Cretaceous mosasaurs, turtles, crocodilians, and plesiosaurs from the Alabama Museum of Natural History collection
Adiel Klompmaker, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Alabama Museum of Natural History
Nov 4, 2024
Fossil Fishes of Alabama
Jun Ebersole, DIrector of Collections, McWane Science Center
Oct 7, 2024
Principles and Geologic Applications of Palynology
Duncan McLean, PhD, Palynologist, MB Stratigraphy Limited, Sheffield, UK
Sep 9, 2024
Fossil Preparation Basics
George Martin, APS Member, 2022 Award, AMNH Alabama Avocational Paleontologist
Aug 12, 2024
Under the Sea 325 MYA: Montana’s Bear Gulch Limestone
Kallie Moore, Collections Manager, University of Montana Paleo Collection
July 1, 2024
Fossils of the Dawn
Dr. Andy Rindsberg, Professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of West Alabama
June 3, 2024
Fossils of the Crescent Valley Mine: A New Window on the Coal Age in Alabama
Ron Buta, PhD, Professor emeritus of Astronomy, University of Alabama
May 6, 2024
Agatized Coral of Florida and Georgia
Jon Bryan, PhD, Professor of Earth Sciences at Northwest Florida State College (Niceville)
April 1, 2024
From the Field to the Lab: A Fossil's Journey
Skye Walker, Field Paleontologist and Science Communicator with Elevation Science for Natural History Exploration (www.elevationscience.org)
March 4, 2024
Back from the dead: Unveiling an enigmatic new species from Western New York
Dr. Phil Stokes, Executive Director, Hamburg Natural History Society/Penn Dixie Fossil Park
February 5, 2024
Life Sculpted: Breaking, Scraping, Drilling, and Crunching through Time
Dr. Tony Martin, Professor of Practice, Dept of Environmental Sciences, Emory University
January 9, 2024
An Evening with the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
Sarah Jayne, Trustee with Friends of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
December 4, 2023
Squat Lobsters: From the Jurassic to Your Dinner Plate
Dr. Cristina Robins, Instructor in the Department of Geography at the University of Alabama
November 6, 2023
Finding Fossils in the Northern Morrison Formation of Montana and Wyoming as a Field Intern with Elevation Science Institute
Meghan Forcellati, PhD student at the American Museum of Natural History and Intern at Elevation Science Institute
October 16, 2023
Updates on Elevation Science's Field Excavations in the Bighorn Basin of Montana
Jason Schein, Founder and Executive Director of Elevation Science Institute (www.elevationscience.org )
September 11, 2023
The Gray Fossil Site – the Pliocene Lost World of East Tennessee
Matt Inabinett, Collections Manager at the Gray Fossil Site & Museum
August 14, 2023
WHY DINOSAURS?" A Documentary About Dinosaurs and the People Who Love Them
James Pinto, UC Berkeley Senior and Life-Long Dinosaur Enthusiast
July 10, 2023
Paleontology in Alabama
Dr. Prescott Atkinson, APS Vice President
June 5, 2023
Stories from the Roadside Geology of Alabama
Dr. Mark Steltenpohl, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geosciences at Auburn University
May 1, 2023
Biodiversity hotspots in the oceans: cold seep environments as habitats for extant and ancient crustaceans
Adiel Klompmaker, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Alabama Museum of Natural History
April 3, 2023
Late Cretaceous sharks of Alabama and advances in shark paleoecology using nitrogen isotopes
Chelsea M Comans, PhD Student/National Alumni Association Fellow, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama
March 6, 2023
Fossils of Florida
Derek Demeter, Director, Emil Buehler Planetarium, Seminole State College of Florida, Sanford FL
February 6, 2023
Two New 'Shark' Species from the Mississippian of Alabama
Wayne Itano, PhD, Curator Adjoint at the Natural History Museum of the University of Colorado
January 9, 2023
Saving the Union Chapel Mine: How a Group of Determined Amateurs Teamed up with Professionals to Save a World-Class Trackway Site in Alabama
Prescott Atkinson, MD PhD, APS Vice President
December 5, 2022
Wetumpka Impact Crater, Understanding Alabama's Greatest Natural Disaster
David T. King, Jr., Professor of Geology, Dept. of Geosciences, Auburn University
November 7, 2022
Revealing Ancient Life in Alabama through Personal Stories of Discovery
Bill Deutsch, PhD, Research Fellow, Emeritus, Auburn University School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences
October 3, 2022
Studies of the Archaeoceti: Southeastern US and Beyond
Winston Lancaster, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
September 6, 2022
The Placenticeras puzzle: a taxonomic investigation of the Late Cretaceous Placenticeras genus of ammonites in Alabama using a new approach to paleontological morphometrics
Rachel Mohr, Graduate Student, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama
August 1, 2022
Non-Marine Turtles from the Late Cretaceous of Alabama
Drew Gentry, PhD, Department of Biology, Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, Mobile AL
July 11, 2022
Paleozoic Vertebrates of Alabama: A Field Guide
Ryan Shell, PhD
June 6, 2022
New challenges and opportunities in ichnology
Andy Rindsberg, PhD, Associate Professor of Environmental Geology and Paleontology at the University of West Alabama
May 2, 2022
Bony Fish Otoliths (Ear Stones) and their Value in Vertebrate Paleontology
Gary Stringer, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Geology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe
April 11, 2022
Stratigraphy and Depositional Environments in the Red Mountain Formation
Tim Chowns, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Geology, University of West Georgia
March 7, 2022
The Red Mountain Cut Trail
Bryson Stephens, Director and Chairman of the Board of EBSCO Industries
February 7, 2022
An Update on Research at the Blue Springs Fossil Site
George Phillips, PhD, Paleontology Curator, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
January 3, 2022
The Crescent Valley Mine Photographic Database of Coal-Age Fossils: Highlights of an Adventure in Ichnology
Ron Buta, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama
December 6, 2021
Salvage Paleontology: A Whale of a Tale
Cristina M. Robins, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama
November 1, 2021
Teach Me Paleontology: One Teacher's Dino-Sized DIG Field Experience
Amber Dawn Moore, 5th Grade Teacher, New Market School, New Market Alabama
October 4, 2021
Spying on Whales (and Other Sea Beasts)
Nick Pyenson, PhD, Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals, Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History
September 13, 2021
The Late Cretaceous Terrestrial and Freshwater Paleoecosystems of Appalachia
Drew Gentry, PhD, Instructor, UAB Department of Biology
August 2, 2021
Otodontids in Alabama: Insights into the Evolution of Megalodon
Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center
July 5, 2021
Predator-Prey Interactions in the Marine Fossil Record
Dr. Adiel Klompmaker, Curator of Paleontology, Alabama Museum of Natural History
June 7, 2021
An Historical View of Paleontology in Delta County, Michigan U.S.A.
APS Member Roy P. Webber
May 3, 2021
An Ichnological Perspective on Some Major Events of Paleozoic Tetrapod Evolution
Dr. Spencer Lucas, Curator of Paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
April 5, 2021
The Red Mountain cut: A unique scientific and educational resource. What have we learned from the cut, and where has that led us?
Bill Thomas, PhD, Hudnall Professor Emeritus of Geology at the University of Kentucky and Visiting Scientist at the Geological Survey of Alabama
March 1, 2021
Exploring the feeding ecology of paracrinoids: revealing the evolution of aberrant forms.
Brad Deline, PhD, Professor of Geology, University of West Georgia
February 1, 2021
Trilobites - Once so Common in the Cambrian Seas that the Cambrian was called "The Age Of Trilobites"
"PaleoJoe" Kchodl
January 4, 2021
"Lost in Time: The Resurrection of the Fisk Museum and Recent Contributions to Palaeontology”
Tony Swinehart, PhD, Professor of Biology and Curator, Fisk Museum of Natural History, Hillsdale College
2020
December 7, 2020
“Fishing with a Hammer and Chisel”
"PaleoJoe" Kchodl
November 2, 2020
"Paleobiogeography, Paleoecology, and Geologic Maps: Examples from the Fossil Assemblages of the Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation and Related Units"
Sandy Ebersole, PhD, Director, Geologic Investigations Program, Geologic Survey of Alabama
October 5, 2020
"Ammonites for Dinner"
Adiel Kompmaker, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama
September 14, 2020
"Filling in “Romer’s Gap”. A stroll through time from 350 to 300 million years ago and the roll New Brunswick played in the evolution of vertebrate life on land
Matt Stimson, PhD Student, St Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
"Horseshoe crabs, synxiphosurans and sea scorpions OH MY. An ichnotaxonomic review of Kouphichnium aspodon and what it can tell us about other Carboniferous sites worldwide"
Olivia King, Masters Student, St Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
July 6, 2020
Cosmic Pinwheels: Spiral Galaxies and the Universe"
Ron Buta, PhD, Professor of Astronomy (Emeritus), University of Alabama
June 1, 2020
“The Long Road from the Carboniferous: After 87 Years, Mysterious Fossil Tracks are Rediscovered”
Carl Mehling, Senior Museum Specialist, American Museum of Natural History
May 4, 2020
“What microfossils on the seafloor can tell us about the fate of the "Doomsday Glacier" and Antarctica’s contribution to sea-level rise”
Dr. Rebecca Minzoni, PhD, Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama
April 6, 2020
"Dinosaur Digging in the Bighorn Basin"
Jason Schein, Executive Director, Bighorn Basin Paleontological Institute
March 2, 2020
"What were they think: Endocranial Neuroanatomy of Armored Dinosaurs"
Dr. Mike Burns, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology at Jacksonville State University
February 3, 2020
"Seasonal Environmental Change During The End of Cretaceous Mass Extinction In Antartica"
Tom Tobin, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama Department of Geological Sciences
January 6, 2020
"The Fossil Record of Decapod Crustaceans"
Adiel Klompmaker, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Alabama Museum of Natural History
2019
December 2, 2019
"Tales from the Field: Favorite Fossil Collecting Trips of APS Members"
Jim Braswell, Carl Sloan, Prescott Atkinson, Members, Alabama Paleontological Society
November 4, 2019
"My Great Big Dinosaur Adventure (66 million years to today)"
Jim Braswell, APS Member
October 7, 2019
"Practical Paleontologist: The Presentation, Not the Book"
Ashley Allen, President, Alabama Paleontological Society
September 9, 2019
"Fossil sharks and rays from South Carolina, with comparisons to the Gulf Coastal Plain"
Dave Cicimurri, PhD, Curator of Natural History, South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, SC
August 5, 2019
"Chondrichthyes Evolution"
Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center
July 1, 2019
"Supernovae and the Chemical Elements of Life"
Ron Buta, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama
June 3, 2019
"The What, Where, and When of “Petrified Wood” in Alabama"
Jim Lacefield and John Cooke
May 6, 2019
"Using the Past to protect the Future: A Paleontological Perspective on Modern Conservation Policy"
Drew Gentry, PhD Candidate, University of Alabama at Birmingham
April 1, 2019
“McWane 2.0: A sneak peak at McWane Science Center’s Future Paleontology Exhibitions”
Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center
March 4, 2019
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Michael Burns, PhD, Asst Professor, Dept of Biology, Jacksonville State University
February 4, 2019
"The Birmingham Ironstones and the Ironstone Enigma"
Tim Chowns, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Dept of Geosciences, University of West Georgia
January 14, 2019
"Wetumpka Impact Crater: Alabama's Worst Natural Disaster"
James Lowery, APS Former Vice President
2018
February 5, 2018
“Fossils of the Dawn”
Dr. Andy Rindsberg, University of West Alabama
March 5, 2018
“An Interstellar Visitor” and “Lost and Found: George Gaylord Simpson and the Case of the Missing Footprints”
Dr. Ron Buta, Professor of Astronomer, University of Alabama
April 2, 2018
“Sea Monsters of the Cretaceous Gulf Coast: Using Isotopes in Fossil Teeth to Reconstruct Large Marine Animal Behavior”
Leah Travis Taylor, MS Student, University of Alabama Dept of Geology
May 7, 2018
“What Good Are Ostracodes?”
Mark Puckett, PhD, Professor of Geology, University of Southern Mississippi
June 4, 2018
"Carl and Prescott's Excellent Vacation"
Carl Sloan and Prescott Atkinson, APS Secretary and Vice President
July 9, 2018
"Amber Time Machine"
Ashley Allen, APS President
August 6, 2018
"Otodontids in Alabama: Insights into the Evolution of Megalodon"
Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center
September 10, 2018
“Alabama’s Latest Contributions to the Study of Marine Turtle Evolution”
Drew Gentry, PhD Student, University of Alabama at Birmingham
October 1, 2018
"The Crescent Valley Mine, Carbon Hill, Alabama: A Deep Time Portal to the Coal Age"
Ron Buta, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama Dept of Astronomy
November 5, 2018
"The Race for Space: What's that Filter Feeder Fouling my Fossil?"
George Phillips, PhD, Curator of Paleontology, Mississippi Museum o f Natural Science
December 3, 2018
"Moscow Landing: A Virtual Field Trip"
Andrew Rindsberg, Assoc Professor of Environmental Geology and Paleontology
University of West Alabama