Fredonia research to be presented at annual GSA meeting

The student poster, “Surviving on Dry Land: Geoarchaeological Evidence for a Potential Native American Occupation during the 4.2 KA Drought in Western New York,” created by sophomore Geology major Savannah Steves of South Dayton, NY, and Geology graduates Joli Springborn, ’23, and Tyler Spears, ’20, will be presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

The four-day meeting will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, on Oct. 15-18.

Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor Matt Purtill will deliver the presentation that details the student research project at an archaeological site near Cattaraugus Creek, a tributary to Lake Erie in western New York, that shows evidence of Native Americans living through a significant drought in the northern hemisphere some 4,200 years ago. The poster’s abstract can be viewed online 

Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences Associate Professor Thomas Hegna will give an oral presentation, “Early Colonization of Non-Marine Habitats by Clam Shrimp – A New Perspective from the Devonian (Emsian) Klerf Formation in Germany.”

The report discusses insights into the origin and diversification of clam shrimp that he and co-authors Markus Poschmann, Timothy Astrop and Rene Hoffmann have gained by studying a new collection of fossils from the Rhenish Massif, an upland area in western Germany. The study can be viewed online 

Dr. Hegna is also co-author of a poster presentation that includes a former colleague and a former student of his from Western Illinois University. The poster displays some new data that suggests that bacteria may play a previously unrecognized role when calcite fossils get replaced with silica. That poster can be viewed online 

Each fall, GSA holds a four-day meeting that draws thousands of earth scientists and students from around the globe, who present their research.