Author Archives: Mark Wilson

About Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is an emeritus Professor of Geology at The College of Wooster. He specializes in invertebrate paleontology, carbonate sedimentology, and stratigraphy. He also is an expert on pseudoscience, especially creationism.

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A delicate brachiopod from the Pliocene of Cyprus

Mark Wilson September 22, 2013

These thin-shelled brachiopods were collected in the summer of 1996 on a Keck Geology Consortium project in Cyprus. Strangely enough, they were the first brachiopods I had ever seen in the Cenozoic. These are ventral valves of the terebratulid Maltaia … Continue reading →
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A Wooster Geologist goes to Washington for a different kind of fieldwork

Mark Wilson September 18, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC–Today I was in Washington, DC, with 70 other colleagues for the annual Geosciences Congressional Visits Day organized by the American Geosciences Institute (AGI). I was ostensibly representing the Paleontological Society as its secretary, but I was really a … Continue reading →
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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: An ancient predator/prey system from the Lower Pleistocene of Sicily

Mark Wilson September 15, 2013

The above fossils were collected from a Lower Pleistocene silty marl exposed near the Megara archaeological site east of Augusta, Sicily, Italy. I was on that epic International Bryozoology Association field trip this summer I’ve been blogging about. The shells … Continue reading →
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A paleontology field trip into the Upper Ordovician of Ohio

Mark Wilson September 8, 2013

The 2013 Invertebrate Paleontology class at Wooster had its first field trip today. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the usual boatload of fossils was collected. We traveled this year to Caesar Creek State Park and worked in the emergency … Continue reading →
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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A nautiloid from the Middle Jurassic of southern Israel

Mark Wilson September 8, 2013

This is the first nautiloid specimen I’ve seen in the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) after ten years of collecting in it. Our colleague Yoav Avni (Geological Survey of Israel) picked it up during this summer’s fieldwork. It is a … Continue reading →
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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A strophomenid brachiopod from the Middle Devonian of Michigan

Mark Wilson September 1, 2013

Every year in the first class session of my Invertebrate Paleontology course I give my students each an unknown fossil. It must be something relatively common so that I can give 20 nearly-identical specimens, and it is ideally of a … Continue reading →
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Wooster Geologists begin a new year

Mark Wilson August 30, 2013

WOOSTER, OHIO–The happy people above represent most of the Wooster Geology Club in late August, 2013. We’re missing one faculty member: Greg Wiles, who is currently in the Far East of Russia on a research leave. Thank you to Danielle … Continue reading →
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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A crab’s meal from the Pliocene of Cyprus

Mark Wilson August 25, 2013

This week’s fossil was collected on a Keck Geology Consortium expedition to Cyprus in the summer of 1996. My Independent Study student on that adventure was Steve Dornbos (’97), now a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (and a … Continue reading →
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A Wooster geologist’s summer research experience in The Bahamas: Sarah Bender (’15) and climate and sea level change over the past 6,000 years

Mark Wilson August 20, 2013

Sarah Bender (’15) and Sarah Frederick (’15) had the opportunity this summer to complete National Science Foundation funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). Each spent a good part of their summer completing a research project under the mentorship of accomplished … Continue reading →
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A Wooster geologist’s summer research experience in southeast Wisconsin: Sarah Frederick (’15) and the sourcing of molybdenum in groundwater

Mark Wilson August 19, 2013

This summer, Sarah Bender (’15) and Sarah Frederick (’15) had the opportunity to complete National Science Foundation funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). Each spent a good part of their summer completing a research project under the mentorship of accomplished … Continue reading →
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