Research statement
I originally got into this field without any idea
of where I wanted to go with it. I've been fortunate to date to
have been able to have done a fair amount of field work in New
Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, and Ohio, studying fossiliferous rocks
spanning the last 400 million years. My major interest in
fossils, however, has always been what they can tell us about the
animal that made them, which I why I made the long trek from
Rhode Island to Ohio to work with Larry Witmer.
As of recently, my major area of work has been in digital morphology, which is working with CT (CAT scans) and MR imaging of modern and extinct vertebrates. Consequently, I've become very interested in the kinds of information that these studies generate. So much of what fossils can tell us is still embedded in the rock. Removing this rock is simply to dangerous because damage to the fossil will most likely result. Fortunately, using CT imaging and powerful computer software allows us to see beyond the rock, and in some cases, see what we never thought was possible. Ironically, dinosaurs are actually great model animals for exploring CT techniques because their skulls actually have more bone in certain places, and these bones preserve a considerable amount of information. This anatomical data gleaned from fossils, in turn, allows us to put these animals in a biological context. No longer are they just a collection of bones in a dusty museum. Understanding how extinct animals were "put together", and how they probably lived is one of several keystones to understanding what life *is*: How it adapts. Why it adapts. Understanding our evolutionary "family tree" lets understand many medical questions: Why do we use fruit flies to study genetics? Understanding geological history, or "prehistory", lets us answer questions about how we got here and how to see things are in the only context that's real. These questions, and the perspective gained from natural history, are especially important in today's age of global warming, mounting biological extinction, human overpopulation, disease and suffering, and our amazing ability to blow each other up over silly things. (From dinosaurs to world peace in half a paragraph: Not to shabby...)
When working with modern animals*, we can generate 3D models of the internal anatomy that when combined with dissection can give us a much more complete picture of how these animals are "put together". This in turn allows us to understand and appreciate these animals that much more. The information that we can glean from these anatomical studies is directly applicable to veterinary medicine and the conservation of endangered species such as the rhinoceros .
*We do not work with live animals. All of the specimens that we have obtained are "salvage" specimens. This means that they had given their lives to some other cause...and have "expired" before we get them. Usually, they are zoo animals that have died of natural causes, or are "roadkill". The information these specimens provide directly helps the conservation of each species, both in the zoo and wild. Please don't send me angry animal rights e-mails!