Paul E. Olsen, the Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, presented “Mega Eruptions, Mega Impacts, Mass Extinctions, and the Shape of Life” at the 27th annual Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at The College of Wooster. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, was held in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall (303 E. University St.), beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Olsen’s research focuses on the evolution of continental ecosystems, especially the pattern, causes and effects of climate change on geological time scales, mass extinctions, and the effects of evolutionary innovations on biogeochemical cycles. His projects include (1) drilling and studying 22,600 feet of core from 210 million-year-old lake beds to understand the influence of variations of the earth’s orbit on climate; (2) analysis of the mass extinction 201 million years ago that set up dinosaurian dominance; (3) excavations at major fossil vertebrate sites throughout North America and Morocco; and (4) the evolutionary events mediating the carbon cycle and climate change. Olsen, who has a B.A. in Geology and a Ph.D. in Biology (both from Yale University), is the author of more than 170 publications and has appeared in numerous documentaries on the history of life and climate.
The Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lectureship in Geology was endowed in 1981 by his three sons in memory of their father, a paleontologist with an international reputation who taught at Wooster from 1967 until 1981. Funds from this endowment are used to bring a well-known scientist interested in paleontology and/or stratigraphy to campus each year to lecture and meet with students. The lecture is sponsored by the Department of Geology and the Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lecture Endowed Fund.
* - Due to a technical error the first few minutes of the lecture were not captured