Dr. Laura E. Wilson

Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences
Curator of Paleontology, Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Fort Hays State University
Phone: (785) 628-4963
Email: lewilson6@fhsu.edu
Twitter: @LEW999

Ph.D. University of Colorado, Boulder. Geological Sciences, 2012
Thesis: Paleobiology of hesperornithiforms (Aves) from the Campanian Western Interior Seaway of North America, with analysis of extant penguin bone histology

M.S. Montana State University. Earth Sciences, 2006
Thesis: Comparative taphonomy and paleoecological reconstruction of two microvertebrate accumulations from the lower Hell Creek Formation (late Maastrichtian), Garfield County, Montana

B.S. Washington and Lee University. Geology, 2003
Thesis: Taphonomy and depositional setting of a Tyrannosaurus rex quarry from the Hell Creek Formation (Late Maastrichtian), eastern Montana

Current Graduate Students

Jenna Bures
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Project: Citizen Science in Museums

Richard Carr
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Thesis: The Anatomy and Phylogeny of a New Large Plioplatecarpine Mosasaur from the Campanian Bearpaw Shale of Montana (USA)

Hope Carlson
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences

Shyla Davison
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Project: Examining data collection, archiving protocols, and data accessibility in fossil preparation labs

Pike Holman
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Thesis: Plesiosaur ontogeny

Amber Michels
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Thesis: Trophic ecology of actinopterygians from the Western Interior Seaway

Harrison Miller
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Thesis: Tylosaurus osteohistology

Alec Zaborniak
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Thesis: Distribution and tooth morphoguilds of mosasaurids (Squamata) of the Campanian Western Interior Seaway with implications for controls of mosasaur paleobiology

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Current Undergraduate Researchers/Mentees

Kaiden O’Dell
Senior, Major: Geosciences, Minor: English & Biology
Project: Understanding and Assessing FHSU student #SciComm

Kale Link
Freshman, Majors: Geosciences & Biology
Project: Understanding and Assessing FHSU student #SciComm

Brynn Wooten
Senior, Majors: Geosciences & Biology
Vertebrate Paleontology collection intern

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Lab Alumni

Matthew Eads
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences, 2022
Project: Photogrammetry and prep lab management

Blake Chapman
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences, 2021
Thesis: Determining the habitat and community controls on Hesperornis (Aves: Hesperornithiformes) distribution in the Western Interior Seaway through occupancy modeling

Tom Buskuskie
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences, 2021
Project: Osteohistology of Niobrarasaurus colei

Tia Ruppert
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences, 2021
Project: Fossil Prep Lab Manager

Hillary Cypress-McLean, M.S. Geosciences, 2020
M.S. Student, Department of Geosciences
Project: Prep lab management

Melissa Macias, M.S. Geosciences, 2020
Project: Timing and patterns of sloth diversification in North America

Chase Shelburne, M.S. Geosciences 2020
Thesis: Analyzing convergent evolution in the feeding structure of Xiphactinus audax and Megalops atlanticus using landmark-based geometric morphometrics

Katharine Rivers, M.S. Geosciences, 2019
Project: Adult museum education

Trevor Williams, M.S. Geosciences, 2019
Project: Museum education

Cyrus Green, M.S. Geosciences, 2018
Thesis: Long bone histology and skeletochronology of an ontogenetic series of Clidastes (Squamata: Mosasauridae)

Kent Isaacson, M.S. Geosciences, 2018
Project: Museum exhibit design

Jessica Barnett, M.S. Geosciences, 2017
Project: Development of fossil preparation protocol for the Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Darrah Jorgensen, M.S. Geosciences, 2017
Thesis: The Relationship Among Suture Complexity, Shell Form, and Stratigraphic Formation in Ammonites of the Western Interior Seaway

Kelsie Abrams, M.S. Geosciences, 2016
Thesis: Intra-cusp Microwear Variation in Teleoceras fossiger (Osborn, 1898), with Consideration of Masticatory Processes

Mackenzie Kirchner-Smith, M.S. Geosciences, 2015
Thesis: 3D Geometric Morphometrics in Modern and Extinct Foot-Propelled Diving Birds: An Evaluation of the Tarsometatarsus for Species Identification

Josh Fry, M.S. Geosciences, 2015
Thesis: Redescription of a Specimen of Pentaceratops (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) and Phylogenetic Evaluation of Five Referred Specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of New Mexico

Jason Hughes, B.S. Geosciences, 2014
Project: Taphonomic Process of the Minium and Jack Swayze Quarries Assessed on Teleoceras Limb Elements

Tessa Brewer, B.S. Geosciences, 2014
Thesis: Taphonomy of a Pleistocene fossil deposit from Pratt, Kansas

Elizabeth Deering, M.S. Geosciences, 2013
Thesis: Identification and Paleoecology of Mammoth Teeth from the Paleontology Collections at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, Kansas

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