LLL: A Geologist explains Mass Extinction

Coming Monday, May 2 @ 7 p.m. Live at the Lodge

Mass Extinctions: not just for dinosaurs?
Presentation by Dr. Diana Boyer, Winthrop Department of Geology

This presentation will investigate how we know about the causes and consequences of the largest mass death events on our planet.  What could cause nearly 90% of all species to go extinct?  Why are some mass extinctions still a mystery?  What organisms are most likely to make it through a mass extinction, and what can we learn from past mass extinctions that might be important in today's world?

About our presenter "I was born in central Pennsylvania and went to the University of Delaware for a degree in geology. I spent eight years in southern California at the University of California, Riverside earning a Masters and doctorate in geosciences. I explored much of  the Great Basin and high desert of Nevada and California while doing field work in graduate school. My dissertation research was on Devonian aged low-oxygen fossil communities, so I was happy to land in upstate New York at SUNY Oswego, for a teaching position in 2008, as there are many lovely Devonian rocks in and around the area.  After eight years of lake effect snow, my husband, and two children and I moved to Fort Mill, SC so I could take a position at Winthrop University. 

I love teaching courses on dinosaurs, oceanography, extinctions, and historical geology, as well as my international course: "Geology of the Bahamas". I have recently started research with students on the abundance of microplastics on Carolina beaches as well. a picture of me out in the field teaching my Geology of the Bahamas class on San Salvador Island.