The principal component of my service is overseeing the department’s F. Kenneth and M.J. McKinney Geology Teaching Museum, which includes a variety of geological exhibits inside and out. This also means I hire and supervise the geology majors that serve as tutors in the Answersphere.
Additionally, I hold adjunct positions at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCSM) and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNH). I am particularly proud of my contributions to the latter’s Triassic Hall, which features many specimens I helped collect, document, research, and publish. To have those specimens on exhibit for hundreds of thousands of visitors to see is especially gratifying.
This photo, to the right, shows an exhibit of phytosaur skulls from the Snyder quarry on display at the NMMNH showing our hypothesis of sexual dimorphism (skeletal differences between males and females).
Museums in western civilization began as the storehouse of knowledge of the natural world, essentially libraries of three-dimensional objects preserved for future generations of inquiry. In the 21st century, I have enjoyed opportunities to work with a variety of talented people to disseminate geological and paleontological knowledge not just through static exhibits, but also via interactive “exhibits” on the web. Examples include:
- A kids’ interactive: http://nmnaturalhistory.newmexicoculture.org/nmquest/
- The paleontological database at: http://www.nmfossils.org
- Rock garden interactive: http://www.geology.appstate.edu/museum/rockgarden/index.php
- Rock wall interactive: http://www.geology.appstate.edu/museum/rockwall.htm