Students Will Soon Dig Deep in Fossil Record to Search for Clues to Future
The next big fossil-related discovery could be found by college students digging through massive amounts of very, very old data, thanks to an international effort led by George Mason University.
By studying what the planet looked like millions of years ago, students may uncover new links to today’s changing climate and declining biodiversity that will give us a better understanding about what is happening now, said Mark D. Uhen, a George Mason paleontology professor who specializes in ancient whale studies.
Once catalogued only on handwritten index cards, fossil records in the past decade have been making their way to the international Paleobiology Database. Each entry includes the place found, geologic age and other known information about a fossil, Uhen said. The massive free resource for researchers chronicles about 1.3 million “finds,” which may contain several species.
“The database catalogues diversity, distribution and the paleoecology of each species,” Uhen said.
But it’s not so easy to use, said Uhen, who’s the executive committee chair of the Paleobiology Database.
“Even now, I find our database interface somewhat daunting,” he said.
That’s soon to change, thanks to a two-year, $200,000 National Science Foundation grant aimed at making the database user-friendly for college students. Uhen is the lead investigator on the project called “Collaborative Research: Leveraging Big Data to Explore Big Ideas: Utilizing the Paleobiology Database to Provide Hands-on Opportunities.”
Paleobiology information appears in unexpected places. The database information is given away free. Smartphone apps draw from it, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Encyclopedia of Life.
Acquiring new software for the database, along with creating lesson plans aimed at undergraduates, is the focus for now, but the project could be expanded to K-12 students, said Uhen, who is partnering on the project with colleagues at the College of William and Mary, Northern Virginia Community College and Thomas Nelson Community College.
“Database technology is moving very quickly and expanding what we can do with the data even more quickly than we can access it,” Uhen said.
That creates opportunities for enterprising students to carve out new areas of study.
“We’re in the sixth great mass extinction, which almost certainly is due to human impact,” Uhen said. “We can study how certain species reacted to change in the past to prepare for what may happen in the future.”
This article originally appeared on Mason News
Write to Michele McDonald at mmcdon15@gmu.edu
About the College of Science
George Mason University’s College of Science (COS) offers over 40 interdisciplinary degree and certificate programs in physical, life, mathematical, earth and space sciences, data, forensics and policy to over 3000 students each year. The college, a crucial part of the university’s goal to promote research of consequence, accounts for roughly 30% of the university’s research expenditure. The college’s broad regional presence, combined with strategic national and international connections, reinforces the college’s mission to provide world-class scientific leadership important to modern society. George Mason University, located just outside of Washington, DC, is Virginia’s largest public research university. For additional information, email cosnews@gmu.edu.
