Join Dr. Noel Heim from Tufts University a s he discusses the dinosaurs of Massachusetts including our state dinosaur \, Podokesaurus holyokensis\, the swift-footed lizard of Holyoke. Dr. Heim will bring fossils along to display and pass around to the audie nce. \;
\nFor teens &\; adults. Registration encouraged. Please contact \;Ari \;at& nbsp\;apappas@minlib.net \;with questions.
\nAbout Dr. Heim:
\nDr. Heim is a paleobiologist interested in reco nstructing the history of Earth's marine biosphere\, including ongoing Ant hropogenic change. Of particular interest is understanding how that histor y was shaped by environmental\, physiological\, ecological\, and evolution ary processes. Dr. Heim analyses large databases\, such as the Paleobiolog y Database and Macrostrat\, in order to develop robust\, quantitative tren ds across 600 million years of geological time. However\, interpreting pro cess from large-scale trends is often difficult. To better understand the underlying processes driving macro-scale trends\, Dr. Heim uses local and regional scale field studies to reveal the potential roles of environmenta l change and biotic interactions.
\nAlthough most of Dr. Heim's rese arch is on fossil organisms\, he is also interested in quantifying Anthrop ogenic change of the recent past in order to predict how biodiversity will change in the future. Ongoing projects include deploying large databases of insect body sizes\, ecological characteristics\, and historical observa tions to predict extinction risk\, and quantifying change in species distr ibutions and community compositions that result from climate change\, part icularly in rocky intertidal environments of the Pacific coast of North Am erica.
\nThe aim of his research is to understand the interactions b etween the physical and biological Earth systems using data derived from l iving organisms\, fossils\, and the stratigraphic record. The principal dr iving questions are: How are biological signals filtered through the strat igraphic record? How did past environmental changes influence the diversit y\, abundance\, and ecology of marine animals? What is the role of physiol ogy in structuring marine animal ecosystems through time? Developing robus t\, quantitative trends across 600 million years of geological time requir es using large databases\, such as the Paleobiology Database and Macrostra t. He is also interested in field-based paleobiology\, particularly when i t involves undergraduate students. Research projects focus on local and re gional scale extinction dynamics and community paleoecology.
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