Start |Author Index | View Uploaded Presentations | Meeting Information

Southeastern Section - 64th Annual Meeting (19–20 March 2015)

Paper No. 2
Presentation Time: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM

DIGITAL ATLAS OF ORDOVICIAN LIFE: FROM FOSSIL IDENTIFICATION TO THE CLASSROOM


ZESZUT, Zoe1, GLASGOW, Mackenzie1, HENDERSON, Timothy1, LAM, Adriane R.1 and STIGALL, Alycia L.2, (1)Geological Sciences, Ohio University, 316 Clippinger Lab, Athens, OH 45701, (2)Department of Geological Sciences and Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, 316 Clippinger Lab, Athens, OH 45701, zz426410@ohio.edu

Museum collections of fossils with their associated locality data provide millions of records representing data on the temporal and geographic distribution of species in deep time. Recent efforts on the NSF funded Digital Atlas of Ordovician Life project involve digitization and mobilization of data for Late Ordovician specimens from Cincinnati, OH for use in scientific, outreach, and educational areas.

As of November 2014, Ohio University houses the OU Invertebrate Paleontology (OUIP) collection, which currently includes over 13,000 georeferenced specimens, in addition to the newly received fossil collections donated by the family of Joseph Stocker. Currently, all digitized data is available through the iDigBio portal. By attaching accurately georeferenced latitude/longitude coordinates to each specimen, this collection has generated thousands of mappable data points. The first and second years of the project (2012-2014) focused on identification of specimens, georeferencing localities, and content generation for an online atlas deployed via the website www.ordovicianatlas.org. The atlas includes dedicated pages for common species and higher taxa in the Cincinnati strata. The third year of the project (2014-2015) has focused on creating detailed locality maps for each genus and species page with locality data queried live from the iDigBio databse (idigbio.org).

There are over 130 species pages live and available for public access. In addition, specimens in the Stocker collection are currently being identified and will be added to iDigBio as georeferenced data becomes available. The website also includes a teaching section, which features several lesson plans designed for K-16 classrooms. These lessons utilize the fossiliferous Cincinnati strata to explore concepts in diversity, ecology, and evolution with ties to modern ecosystem functions. These lesson plans have been modified for use in public outreach programs with adults and children at all levels.

Session No. 8--Booth# 14

Geoscience Education (Posters)
Thursday, 19 March 2015: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Ballroom (Chattanoogan Hotel & Conference Center)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 2, p.11
© Copyright 2015 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
Back to: Geoscience Education (Posters)
<< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >>