Overview
I am a geologist with extensive experience in Paleontology, Stratigraphy, and Paleoecology. My role in the Geology Department has been to introduce and interpret the many relationships between the geological and biological aspects of the Earth using the fossil record of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants as opportunity allows. For 4.2 billion years, life has affected the development of this planet, occasionally in the most important ways. As a Paleontologist, my teaching and research explain and clarify those relationships, especially by putting them in an objective, historical context. Earth history is not random, nor is it dogma. The Earth responds to evolution of the life upon it, just as life responds to the tectonic, petrologic, and climatic habitat Earth produces. I play the part of knowledgeable interpreter as I have taught Historical Geology, Invertebrate Paleontology, Paleoecology, Micropaleontology or Dinosaurs, all courses that establish the relationship I mentioned above.
My research has focused on rocks of Cambrian, Ordovician, Cretaceous and Quaternary ages from both marine and terrestrial settings. Fossils that I work with have ranged from some of the oldest tracks and trails on Earth to some of the smallest mites in the fossil record. I have discovered new species of Cretaceous snails and evidence for predation on Ordovician ones. Paleontology is a field-based and specimen-based discipline making fossil collecting, curation and systematic study the beginning of a research process in which all our students have an opportunity to participate. Our well-known paleontology class field trip, "Facies and Fossils of the Cincinnati Arch", has opened the door to the world of fossils and many student research opportunities have developed as a result. Examples of student B.S. Theses in Paleontology and Stratigraphy can be found on the thesis site.
JME publications are available on request according to the file number located before each citation in either the PAPERS or the ABSTRACTS files as linked to herein. Kindly request from meri@stlawu.edu by number or a number designation and you will be supplied with a reprint, if available, or a pdf where appropriate.
Graduate: University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Ph.D. Major: Paleontology - Taxonomy and Paleoecology
Minor: Aquatic Biology - Sedimentation
M.S. Major: Geology - Paleontology and Stratigraphy
Minor: Geology - Sedimentology, Paleolimnology
Undergraduate: Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
B.S. Major: Geology
Minors: (undeclared) English and French