2024 Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Conference
Testimonials from previous years
Gawain Antell, University of California, Riverside: The Stratigraphic Paleobiology Conference is the best field course I have attended, not only in academic content and skills training, but also in modeling safe and inclusive field teaching demeanor and creating a long-lasting peer network among participants. The principles from this course continue to influence my research, even after pivoting from field-based to analytical work. Six years after the course, my cohort still mutually supports and informally keeps up with each other — multiple people have given me advice when applying for grants or fellowships they earned, and just last week I helped advertise the recruitment for someone’s geoscience education study. Besides, the field location is breathtaking and the practical work is fun!
Max Christie, University of Illinois: Patzkowsky and Holland’s seminal book Stratigraphic Paleobiology captured the importance of integrating the fossil and stratigraphic records, and serves as a blueprint for a new generation of paleobiologists seeking to understand the nature of the fossil record. In this field course, Patzkowsky and Holland take students through the process of designing natural experiments, conducting faunal and stratigraphic field work, performing statistical analyses, and synthesizing results. There just isn’t a better way to to learn how do do this critical branch of paleontology.
Lena Cole, University of Oklahoma: Participating in the 2017 Stratigraphic Paleobiology course was one of the most valuable learning opportunities I have had as a paleontologist. The unique combination of field-based and analytical exercises that Steve Holland and Mark Patzkowsky incorporated into the course (along with their exceptional teaching skills) allowed me to develop a much deeper understanding of how sequence stratigraphic architecture affects the spatial and temporal distributions of fossils. It provided me with the confidence, practical skills, and methodological toolkit that I needed to tackle research at new field sites, one of which has since become a major component of my current research. Ultimately, what I learned from this course has directly enhanced my research program, expanded my abilities as a field paleontologist, and helped me build a wonderful network of other like-minded early career paleontologists.
Julien Kimmig, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe: The Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Conference was an amazing field course that taught me a lot about the subject and takes place in an amazing geological setting. Not only is the academic content excellent and the way Steve and Mark teach it fantastic and fun, but I’m still using many of the analytical and field techniques I learned in the course to this day. Additionally, it is designed so that you will be building long-lasting relationships with the other participants, as you’ll be spending a fantastic time together. I’m still collaborating with several members of my cohort to this day.
Katya Larina, University of Texas: The 2014 Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Course was outstanding. It greatly enhanced my understanding of sequence stratigraphy and analytical paleobiology. Both Steven Holland and Mark Patzkowsky are exceptional teachers. They structured the course in such way that first we gathered data employing contemporary stratigraphic methods and then analyzed this data using multivariate analysis of faunal counts. By the end of the course, we were equipped to assemble a project and present it at both national and international conferences.
Katie Loughney, Murray State University: The Stratigraphic Paleobiology field course was a wonderful experience. Structured as a series of field-based exercises, it perfectly integrated approaches to data collection and data analysis from several field sites that span fully marine, coastal, and nonmarine deposits. The course offers a practical guide to implementing these methods in the students’ own work, and I still draw on this experience in my research. I was excited to take the course the first year it was offered in 2014, and I was excited to return as a TA for the course in 2017. I am so glad to see the course being offered again to provide new graduate students the rare opportunity to get field and analytical experience taught by leaders in the field of Strat Paleo.
Pedro Monarrez, University of California, Los Angeles: Regardless of whether your background is in field paleontology or quantitative paleontology, invertebrate or vertebrate paleontology, every paleontology grad student should aspire to take the Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Course. The structure of the stratigraphic record is such that it impacts how we interpret the fossil record. Understanding how to work with the structure of the stratigraphic record allows paleontologists the ability to infer if observed fossil patterns are biologically meaningful or stratigraphically controlled. Whereas the Stratigraphic Paleobiology book offers a wealth of knowledge and is a great starting point, it is not the same as the experiential learning experience of the field course.
James Saulsbury, University of Kansas: The Stratigraphic Paleobiology short course (2017) was transformative for my understanding of fossils and their context, origin, and meaning. I think it can be easy for paleontology students to miss the chance to really build an intuition for the rock record, especially with so much of modern graduate training dedicated to the computational side of things. What is so special about this course is how it integrates the field-based and theoretical sides of stratigraphic paleobiology—you’re not just crawling around on the outcrop or just sitting at a computer, but instead bringing your field experiences into continuous conversation with the theory and statistical analyses, synthesizing and analyzing what you learned on the outcrop and then bringing those insights back into the field the next day. Not to mention that it’s taught by the foremost authorities on the subject, in one of the most beautiful corners of the U.S. And it’s fun too.
Judi Sclafani, University of California, Davis: There is no better way to learn field-based skills than attending a field course, and the Stratigraphic Paleobiology course is one of the best available. Mark and Steve have built a course that is comprehensive, rigorous, and well-structured while simultaneously being accessible, inclusive, and fun. The data collection and analysis skills that comprise strat paleo are fundamental to so many aspects of paleobiology; I use them regularly. But perhaps the best part of participating in the course (as opposed to just reading the book) is joining a network of like-minded paleontologists from which I have built research collaborations and lasting friendships.
Elena Stiles, University of Washington: I participated in the Stratigraphic Paleobiology short course in 2017, and the combined field and analytical skills I acquired then have strongly influenced how I approach my research in paleobotany and paleoecology. In the field component of this course, I learned how to recognize large-scale spatial and temporal patterns in the stratigraphic record, distinguish them from background variability, and document these patterns effectively. I have become a more observant and efficient field paleontologist by having tools that help me understand my fossils in a broad stratigraphic context. The data analysis component of this course introduced me to a way to analyze and interpret my data within a stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context. I have applied what I learned in this course to my studies both in the U.S.A. and abroad and maintained connections with fellow 2017 strat-paleobiologists, making this a great experience that has played a big role in my professional development in the field.
Josh Zimmt, McGill University: The Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Conference fundamentally changed my approach to studying paleobiology, and ultimately it was the inspiration for my doctoral research project. The experience of working through the stratigraphic record alongside Steve and Mark was truly an unparalleled opportunity, one that I am incredibly grateful for having experienced!
