Public Invited to Smithsonian Curator of Fossil Plants Presentation

The public is invited to a presentation by Scott L. Wing, Ph.D., curator of fossil plants at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, on Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. The cost is $5 per person at the door.

The talk is in conjunction with Casper College and the Tate Geological Museum’s 24th Annual Tate Conference and the conference theme: “Paleobotany: Rooted in Time.” Wise’s presentation is titled: “Fossils to the Rescue – What the Distant Past Has to Tell Us About the Present and the Future.”

Wing describes himself as “… a biologist interested in evolution and ecology.” Wing oversees and is responsible for the Smithsonian’s fossil plant collections from both the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. “It’s the biggest collection of its kind in the world, and needs a lot of organizing, digitizing and databasing to make it more useful to scientists and the public alike,” he said.

In addition to his curator position at the Smithsonian, Wing is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Michigan, and has also taught courses at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Colorado College.

Wing’s presentation will take place at the Wyoming Theater located in the Ramkota Hotel. For more information on the Tate Conference go to caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum/events/conference.