Alabama
October 21, 2008 - Teacher Workshop, Sumter County, AL
The "Fossils of the Black Belt - A Hands-On Field Workshop" was a huge success! This fossil workshop was sponsored by the Geological Survey of Alabama, The University of West Alabama, and Discovering Alabama. Approximately 35 teachers from around the South arrived bright and early in Livingston, Alabama to learn about fossils and field geology. After a morning lecture, the group visited several sites in Sumter County, including Jones Bluff beside the Tombigbee River, the Hawkins Overlook, and the Blackland Prairie Restoration Area on the UWA campus, and Jefferson. Cretaceous fossils were collected at a site where the K-T boundary is exposed. The afternoon was spent cleaning and identifying fossils, and ended with drawings for numerous door prizes. The workshop leaders were Dr. David C. Kopaska-Merkel (Geological Survey of Alabama), Dr. Andrew K. Rindsberg, Dr. Doug Wymer, and Dr. John C. Hall (all of the University of West Alabama).
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As the sun gets low in the sky, we're still going around to the marked items, surface collecting or excavating as needed, trying to finish before dark.
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Fish bone in lower left, broken shark vertebra in upper right.
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Bob is assisting James with wrapping of specimens so they will make it back to the museum safely.
