University of Alberta receives $18.6-million grant for research on permafrost, nanotechnology
We were recently funded to build the Permafrost Archives Science Laboratory (PACS Lab) which is an ice-core styled lab focused on Permafrost characterization and analyses of permafrost-preserved records for a variety of applications. The funding is for just over $4M […]
A new genus of horse from Pleistocene North America
We recently published a paper clarifying the origins of a distinctive group of Ice Age horses, the New World Stilt-legged horses. These horses have very distinctive metapodials that when you see them in the field they jump out as very […]
Bison arrival to North America
Fig. 2. Reconstructions of bison skulls based on fossils attributed to (A) a giant long-horned bison, B. latifrons; (B) a Late Pleistocene steppe bison, B. priscus; and (C) a present-day B. bison. Giant long-horned bison were significantly larger than present-day bison; adult males may […]
Anthropocene Poetry
I had the opportunity to introduce Alice Major’s new collection of poems entitled ‘Welcome to the Anthropocene’ at the UofA Observatory. I gave a short presentation on the science of the Anthropocene to a very a very literate crowd. It […]
Discover magazine top 10
Our ancient horse genome paper published last year was named the number 8 science story of 2013- following the Mars Rover, and CO2 hitting 400 ppm…yeah top spot is pretty tough. The story by Breana Drexler is online here
Ancient horse genome
Almost ten years ago I found a metapodial (foot bone) from a large Pleistocene horse that was much larger than the typical fossils we find in Yukon and Alaska. When we’ve found these in the past they have typically been […]