Dinosaurs and MOR!

All Access Paleo Lecture Series

Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Museum Admission included
Hager Auditorium

Click to Purchase the 1-Day Pass for Saturday
Click to Purchase the 1-Day Pass for Sunday

• Member: $35 Youth, $50/adult
• Non-Member: $50 Youth, $65/adult
• MSU Student: $40/student

Click to purchase the 2-Day Pass

• Member: $60 Youth, $80/adult
• Non-Member: $80 Youth, $100/adult
• MSU Student: $70/student

Over two days, 20 renowned paleontologists will present on topics ranging from trilobites to T. rex to fossil whales. Each presentation will be 30 minutes long with a Q and A, making it an informative and engaging experience for all attendees. The speaker's lecture dates and times are subject to change without notice.

Throughout the weekend, there will be multiple opportunities to get books signed, bid on paleontology theme collectibles, fossil casts, unique pieces of paleoart, and more!

SATURDAY'S SPEAKERS

8:15 a.m. | Doors Open/Visitor Arrival/Seating

8:50 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks from Museum of the Rockies’ Dr. John B. Scannella and Scott A. Williams

9 a.m. | Dr. Rhi LaVine, Research Affiliate, University of Kansas with Snapshots of Ancient Innovation: The Diverse Fauna of the Cambrian Spence Shale

9:30 a.m. | Dr. John Foster, Paleontologist, Utah Field House, Natural History State Park Museum with The Largest Organisms on the Morrison Formation Floodplain - and the Sauropods That Ate Them

10 a.m. | Break/Auction

10:30 a.m. | Ashley Hall, Outreach Program Manager, Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana, with The Remarkable Discoveries and Legacy of Mary Anning

11 a.m. | Dr. Karen Poole, Assistant Professor at New York Institute of Technology, College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University with Placing Juvenile Specimens in Phylogenetic Trees: A Case Study with the Dryosaurid Lyuku raathi

11:30 a.m. | John “Jack” R. Horner, Presidential Fellow and Lecturer, Chapman University, Irvine, California, with Maiasaura: The Good Mother and Her Babies

12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch

1:30 p.m. | Dr. Raymond Rogers, DeWitt Professor of Geology, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, with Deciphering the Details of Dinosaur Worlds: A Brief Visit with Vertebrate Microfossil Bonebeds

2 p.m. | Dr. Sabre Moore, Executive Director, Carter County Museum, Ekalaka, Montana with The Little Museum that Big Museums Visit: Carter County Museum as a Rural Epicenter of Paleontology and Citizen Science

2:30 p.m. | Dr. M. Eugenia Gold, Assistant Professor of Biology at Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts, and Science Communicator with Strengthening the Pipeline: Leveraging Social Media for Showcasing Diversity in Paleontology

3 p.m. | Break

3:30 p.m. | Dr. Caleb Brown, Curator, Dinosaur Systematics and Evolution, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, with Injured Horns in Ceratopsians, Implications for Behaviour in Horned Dinosaurs

4 p.m. | Dr. Chris Widga, Director of Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Art Gallery, Penn State College, University Park, Pennsylvania
with The American Mastodon: Modern Reinvention of an 18th Century Monster

5 – 6:15 p.m. | Mesozoic Mixer in the museum’s Bair Lobby with light snacks and a cash bar.

SUNDAY'S SPEAKERS

8:45 a.m. | Doors Open/Visitor Arrival/Seating

9:20 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks from Museum of the Rockies’ Dr. John B. Scannella and Scott A. Williams

9:30 a.m. | Dr. Brenda Chinnery, Instructor of Anatomy, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Great Falls, Montana, with Clavicles in Horned Dinosaurs: What Are They, What Did They Do, and How Do We Know

10 a.m. | Lee Hall, Paleontology Lab and Field Manager, Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana, with Discovery to Drawer: Paleontological Conservation in the 21st Century

10:30 a.m. | Break/Auction

11 a.m. | Dr. Kiersten Formoso, Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey with The Way of Water: Functional Controls of Land-to-Sea Transformations

11:30 a.m. | Dr. David Evans, Co-Chief Curator, Natural History and Temerty Chair in Vertebrate Palaeontology, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with Two Decades of Dinosaur Discoveries in the Judith River Formation

12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch/Auction

1:30 p.m. | Dr. Pat Druckenmiller, Director, University of Alaska Museum of the North and Professor of Geology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, with Who knew? Alaska has Baby Dinosaurs Too!

2 p.m. | Dr. Stephanie Drumheller, Senior Lecturer, University of Tennessee Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Knoxville, Tennessee, with How to Make a Dinosaur Mummy: Applying Forensic Principles to a Paleontological Quandary

2:30 p.m. | Dr. Dave DeMar, Hell Creek Project Collections and Wilson Mantilla Lab Manager, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, with Vertebrate Microfossils and Their Role in Understanding the Dinosaur Extinction Event

3 p.m. | Break/Auction

3:30 p.m. | Dr. Thomas Holtz, Principal Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology, Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, with Jaws, Arms, Hips, and Legs: Functional Transformations in Tyrannosaur Evolution

4 p.m. | Dr. Paige Wilson Debel, Paleobotany Collections and Lab Manager, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, with Plants that Outlived Dinosaurs: Impact of the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction on Plant Communities

4:30 p.m. | Dr. Julie Meachen, Associate Professor of Anatomy, Des Moines University, Medicine and Health Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa, with Caving for Carnivores: Climate Change, Ice Age Extinctions & DNA

Family Weekend

Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. | All Ages
Included with membership/admission
Registration is not required

Enjoy paleo-passport activity stations throughout the Siebel Dinosaur Complex and view Dinosaurs: A Story of Survival in the Taylor Planetarium. Some passport stations will have touchable material, microscope stations, and short activities.

Participants will include:

• Carter County Museum (Ekalaka)
• Montana Dinosaur Center (Bynum)
• MOR’s Paleohistology Department
• MSU’s Dead Lizard’s Society
• Montana Dinosaur Trail
• MOR’s Paleontology Department
• TRX Dinosaurs, Keegan Kuhn
• Montana Bureau of Land Management

Collect passport stamps at all stations to receive a Jr. Paleontologist Certificate signed by Dr. John Scannella of MOR upon completion.

Raptor Meet and Greet

Saturday, April 13, 2024
12:15 p.m. – 1 p.m. | All ages
Hager Auditorium
Included with membership/admission

Discover the fascinating world of raptors and explore the work being done by the Montana Raptor Conservation Center to protect and rehabilitate them. Get a unique opportunity to observe live raptors up close, admire their beauty, and learn about their incredible abilities. Join us for a fun and educational experience that will deepen your appreciation for these remarkable creatures and the vital role they play in our ecosystem.

Workshops and Classes

Happy Hatchling Dino Party

Dr. Kalli Decker and Abby Sparks, Early Childhood Instructors
Anne Brusatte, Children’s Book Author
Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14
9 – 10 a.m. | Registration Required
Free/Member Child + 1 member adult,
$10/Non-member Child + 1 adult museum admission

Babies and toddlers (0 - 3 years old) and their grown-ups are invited to a dino-mite party! We will be joined by children’s book author Anne Brusatte for a reading of her book Dugie the Dinosaur: Scotland’s Sauropod. Children will engage their senses in a variety of dinosaur activities and create some take-home art. The cost of materials is included in the workshop fee. Limited to 25 children.

• Saturday is Sold Out
• Sunday is Sold Out

Prehistoric Preschooler Playdate

Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14
10 – 11 a.m. | Registration Required
Free/Member Child + 1 member adult,
$10/Non-member Child + 1 adult museum admission

Bring your preschool-aged child (3 - 5 years old) to join us for a morning of prehistoric dinosaur fun! Children’s author Anne Brusatte will read from her book Dugie the Dinosaur: Scotland’s Sauropod. Your preschooler will also have opportunities to dig for dinosaur fossils like a paleontologist, play dinosaur games, and create some take-home art. The cost of materials is included in the workshop fee. Limited to 25 children.

• Saturday is Sold Out
• Sunday is Sold Out

Drawing Megalodon with Ted Rechlin

Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14
1 – 2 p.m. | Registration Required
$25/member, $35/non-member + museum admission

Learn how to draw the mighty Otodus megalodon with expert paleoartist Ted Rechlin and unleash your inner artist! Ted is the author and illustrator of award-winning graphic novel-style books such as Sharks: A 400 Million-Year Journey. All supplies provided. Limited to 25 people.

• Register for Saturday
• Register for Sunday

Dinosaur Puppet Workshop

Keegan Kuhn, TRX Dinosaurs
Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14
2:30 – 4:30 p.m.Registration Required
$50/member, $65/non-member + museum admission

Make your own scientifically accurate Triceratops head puppet out of specialized materials with TRX Dinosaurs owner Keegan Kuhn. Learn about his process of making a scientifically accurate puppet Triceratops and make your own to take home with you. The cost of materials is included in the workshop fee. Limited to 25 people.

• Register for Saturday
• Register for Sunday