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Ellen - Therese Lamm

Ellen - Therese Lamm
Paleontology Histology Lab Manager

Ellen-Thérèse hails from the Garden State but has dreamed of the Treasure State since childhood when she first saw Glacier National Park pictures. The gift of a microscope when she was young helped her to develop another passion, cell biology. Digging deeper into dinosaur bones at Museum of the Rockies has enabled her to combine them both.

Ellen-T.'s first Montana adventure was in 1986, working on the Wolf Ecology Project in Glacier Park along the North Fork of the Flathead River. At Cook College-Rutgers University, Ellen-T. studied pre-veterinary medicine and natural resource management, graduating in 1989.

In 1991, Ellen-T. joined MOR's Paleontology Department caring for live reptiles, preparing dinosaur bones, and learning paleohistology techniques at the remarkable time when Jack Horner's research was redefining our understanding of dinosaur behavior and physiology.

Ellen-T. instructs students and researchers from MSU and worldwide in paleohistology techniques. She also teaches popular paleohistology workshops at scientific conferences. Blending discovery, art, and science, Ellen-T. also produces award-winning photomicrographs, some featured on the covers of technical publications.

The publication of Bone Histology of Fossil Tetrapods - Advancing Methods, Analysis and Interpretation in 2013 by UC Press is one of her career highlights. This highly referenced volume was written in partnership with a talented group of contributing authors and was co-edited by Dr. Kevin Padian and Ellen-T.

Ellen-T. also manages the MOR Histology Lab. In collaboration with over 120 institutions worldwide, over 2,500 specimens have been sectioned and thousands of slides cataloged, producing a comprehensive reference library of fossil tissue structure.

Contact Ellen-Thérèse via email or 406.994.5227.


PALEOHISTOLOGY WORKSHOPS AND TRAININGS

International Symposium on Paleohistology (ISPH)

  • July 2017 – New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, New Jersey.
  • July 2015 – Steinmann-Institute, Bonn, Germany.
  • July 2013 – Museum of the Rockies – MSU, Bozeman, Montana.

The National Society for Histotechnology (NSH): Paleohistology: Concepts, Applications & Techniques Workshops
Presented by: Ellen-T. Lamm and Damien Laudier, Laudier Histology, New York, NY.

  • September 2016 – Long Beach, California (also with Christian Heck, Univ. of Oklahoma)
  • August 2014 – Austin, Texas
  • October 2012 – Vancouver, B.C., Canada.


PALEONTOLOGY PUBLICATIONS
Co-editor, Bone Histology of Fossil Tetrapods: Advancing Methods, Analysis and Interpretation, (eds. Padian K, Lamm ET), University of California Press, Berkeley (2013).

Lamm ET.  2013.  Chapter 4 - Preparation and Sectioning of Specimens. In: Bone Histology of Fossil Tetrapods: Advancing Methods, Analysis and Interpretation, (eds. Padian K, Lamm ET), pp. 55–160.  University of California Press, Berkeley.

Padian KP, Lamm ET, Werning S.  2013.  Chapter 3 - Selection of Specimens.  In: Bone Histology of Fossil Tetrapods: Advancing Methods, Analysis and Interpretation, (eds. Padian K, Lamm ET), pp. 35–54.  University of California Press, Berkeley.

Horner JR, Lamm ET.  2011.  Ontogeny of the parietal frill of Triceratops: a preliminary histological analysis. Comptes Rendus Palevol 10(5-6): 439–452. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2011.04.006

Green JL, Schweitzer MH, Lamm ET.  2010.  Limb bone histology and growth in Placerias hesternus (Therapsida:Anomodontia) from the Upper Triassic of North America.  Palaeontology 53(2): 347–364. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00944.x

Schweitzer MH, Elsey RM, Dacke CG, Horner JR, Lamm ET.  2007.  Do egg-laying crocodilian (Alligator mississippiensis) archosaurs form medullary bone?  BONE 40(4): 1152–1158. PMID: 17223615

Lee A, Bybee P, Lamm ET.  2006.  Sizing up the Jurassic theropod Allosaurus: assessing growth strategy and evolution of ontogenetic scaling of limbs.  Journal of Morphology 267: 347–359. doi: 10.1002/jmor.10406

de Ricqlès, AJ, Padian, KP, Horner, JR, Lamm, ET, Myhrvold, N. 2003. Osteohistology of Confuciusornis sanctus (Theropod:Aves). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (2):373-386. PMID: 4524324


ENDOCRINOLOGY PUBLICATIONS
Carsia RV, Lamm ET, Marsh JA, Scanes CG, King DB. 1997. The thyroid hormone 3,5,3-triiodothyronine, is a negative modulator of domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) adrenal steroidogenic function. General and Comparative Endocrinology 107(2): 251–261.

Kocsis JF, Lamm ET, McIlroy PJ, Scanes CG, Carsia RV. 1995. Evidence for functionally distinct subpopulations of steroidogenic cells in the domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) adrenal gland. General and Comparative Endocrinology 98(1): 57–72.


ABSTRACTS
Fox, M., Scannella, J., Lamm, E.T. 2018. Histological Sampling of YPM 1831, the holotype of Torosaurus “gladius”: Fostering Paleontological Discoveries through Museum/Researcher Collaborations. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: 129A.

Lamm, ET, Macguire, KC, Goodwin, MB. 2012. Histological Preparation of a Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) Tusk for Display - The 5th Annual Fossil Preparation & Collections Symposium – Burke Museum, University Of Washington.

Horner, JR, Lamm, ET. 2009. Metaplasia Provided Dinosaur Skulls Extreme Morphological Plasticity During Ontogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(Supp.3).

Lamm, ET. 2007. Paleohistology Widens the Field of View in Paleontology. Proceedings – Microscopy and Microanalysis 13(2): 50.

Dacke, CG, Elsey, RM, Tosclair III, PL, Schweitzer, MH, Lamm, ET. 2007. Calcium Metabolic Strategies in Egglaying Crocodilian (Alligator mississippiensis) Archosaurs. BONE 40(6-Supp. 2):S103.

Lee, A., Bybee, P., Lamm, ET. 2005. Ontogenetic Histology of Allosaurus (Dinosauria:Theropoda): Assessing Growth Trajectory and Evolution of Ontogenetic Limb Allometry. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(Supp.3).

Lamm, ET. 2001. Put It Back the Way You Found It: Restoration of Histological Fossil Specimens. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(3):71A.

Ancell, CV, Lamm, ET. 2001. Deconstruction and Reconstruction of a Pachycephalosaurus Skull for Histological Examination and Exhibit. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(3):28A.

Lamm, ET. 1999. Histological Techniques for Small Paleontological Specimens. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19(3):58A.

Lamm, ET. 1998. New Methods for the Preparation and Systematic Organization of Histological Sections. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(3):58A.

Gentry, A., Lamm, ET. 1993. Thin-section Preparation of Fossil Material for Histological Study. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 13(3):37A.


AWARDS

  • National Society for Histotechnology – Polysciences Anne Preece Award (2016)
  • National Society for Histotechnology – Leonard Noble Educational Scholarship (2015)
  • Photomicrograph Competitions
    • Buehler Ltd. (2012, 2008, 2007, 2006)
    • Olympus Bioscapes (2009)
    • Microscopy Society of America (2006. 2007)