Category Archives: Past Events

January Meeting – Sunday January 26, 2020

Speaker: Jim Chatters

Since 2011, our own Jim Chatters has been the scientific lead on a most fascinating paleontological project in Mexico.  The site, called Hoyo Negro, is an immense pit in an underwater cave on the Yucatan Peninsula.  40,000 to 10,000 years ago, when much of the world’s water was bound up in glaciers, tunnels leading to Hoyo Negro were dry and the site was a natural trap.  An ephemeral pool in the bottom of the 100-foot deep pit drew at least 14 species of thirsty large mammals, including a human, to their deaths.  Seven of the species are now extinct, including a new form of ground sloth and carnivores never before documented north of Venezuela. The preservation of the bones is phenomenal and the crystal clear water makes for stunning photography. Jim will present the latest and greatest in this NPA Exclusive Update.

Jim Chatters is an archaeologist and paleontologist who owns the consulting firm Applied Paleoscience.  He formerly managed contract paleontological and cultural resources research for the University of Washington, Central Washington University, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Foster Wheeler Environmental, and AMEC. Officially “retired” he is actively involved in research and publishing on the Pacific Northwest and Mexico, and consults to the commercial radiocarbon dating laboratory DirectAMS. In 1996, Chatters recovered, and was the first scientist to study, the PaleoIndian skeleton now known as Kennewick Man.  He is the author of numerous scientific articles and monographs and the public-oriented book Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans (Simon & Schuster, 2001).

South Bellevue Community Center

14509 SE Newport Way
Bellevue, WA 98006

January 26, 2020
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

November Meeting – Sunday November 24, 2019

Speaker: Wendell Ricketts, Fossil News Magazine, The Journal of Avocational Paleontology

Come here about the joys and challenges of publishing a magazine about fossils. Wendell lives in Ballard, is a translator/writer/editor/publisher, and is interested in invertebrates and microfossils.

Fossil News

Location TBD
November 24, 2019
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

September Meeting – Sunday September 22, 2019

Was Mammalian Diversity Suppressed During the Age of Dinosaurs?

Our guest speaker will be Dave Grossnickle, who is a post doctoral researcher in Professor Greg Wilson’s UW lab.

About Dave: I received my PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Chicago in 2018, and my dissertation research examined broad macroevolutionary patterns of early mammals. I’ve continued similar work as a postdoctoral researcher in Greg Wilson’s lab at the U. of Washington. I utilize functional morphologies such as tooth shape, jaw shape, and limb proportions to infer the paleo-ecologies of fossil mammals. And from this data I assess the ecological diversity patterns of mammals and test hypotheses on the timing of the mammalian diversification, especially as it relates to the K-Pg mass extinction event.

4120 86th Ave SE | Mercer Island, WA 98040
September 22, 2019
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

July 2019 Girl Scouts Presentation

The NPA was asked to give a paleontology talk at a Duvall, WA July Girl Scout Camp. We were the anchor of their Dino Day festivities and gave 3 separate presentations to different age groups. They loved Judith!

Presenting: Tom, Graham and Meg.

We enjoyed a lunch of Stone Soup and were paid in Girl Scouts Cookies. It doesn’t get any better than that…

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May Meeting – Sunday May 19, 2019

Digging Dinos in Patagonia

Vince Bruscas

NPA’s own Vince Bruscas will fill us in on the Patagonia Expedition he joined in 2018. Perhaps you will be yearning to buy a plane ticket for next year when you see Vince’s photos and hear his description of the logistics of travel, the cultural differences, conditions in the desert, and of course some bit of talk about the dinosaurs they unearthed.

4120 86th Ave SE | Mercer Island, WA 98040
May 19, 2019
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

March Meeting – Sunday March 24, 2019

Our speaker will be George Last. George will fill us in on the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site project in the Tri-Cities area. Please check out their website and be impressed by their cool Citizen Science organization.

“The Mid-Columbia Basin Old Natural Education Sciences (MCBONES) Research Center Foundation provides local K-12 teachers and their students an opportunity to actively participate in laboratory and field-based research in paleontology, geology, paleoecology, and other natural sciences primarily within the Mid-Columbia Region of southeast Washington State.

The keystone of the foundation’s work is the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site.

The Coyote Canyon mammoth was discovered in November 1999 during excavation and hauling of fine-grained soil for use as topsoil.

In late 2007, the land went up for sale, and the presence of the mammoth was disclosed.

In the spring of 2008, a pedestrian survey and test excavation confirmed the location of the mammoth skeleton, uncovering a number of mammoth-size bones including a humerus and scapula in near articulated position. Excitement grew that this site might offer a unique opportunity for students, teachers, and researchers to investigate well-preserved mammoth sub-fossils in the context of Ice Age flood deposits.

In June 2008, the 27-acre property was purchased by two Tri-Cities brothers (doing business as Horse Heaven Hills LLC) and the site was turned into an educational science-based research facility for students, teachers, scientists and the public.”

4120 86th Ave SE | Mercer Island, WA 98040
March 24, 2019
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

January Meeting – Sunday January 27, 2019

The Lives of the First People of the Northwest as Revealed by their Skeletal Remains

Archaeologists learn about ancient peoples through studying the tangible evidence they left behind. Remains of tools, technologies, houses, and foodstuffs tell us a great deal about the cultures of our predecessors, but it is only through their skeletons that we can gain a true sense of what it was like to live their lives. This presentation will discuss the few individuals who have come forward in time from the earliest well-documented cultures of the Pacific Northwest, including those from Marmes, Buhl, and Kennewick, and show how the evidence they provide compares with what is known about other first North Americans.

Jim Chatters is an archaeologist and paleontologist who owns the consulting firm Applied Paleoscience.  He formerly managed contract paleontological and cultural resources research for the University of Washington, Central Washington University, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Foster Wheeler Environmental, and AMEC. Officially “retired” he is actively involved in research and publishing on the Pacific Northwest and Mexico, and consults to the commercial radiocarbon dating laboratory DirectAMS. In 1996, Chatters recovered, and was the first scientist to study, the PaleoIndian skeleton now known as Kennewick Man.  He is the author of numerous scientific articles and monographs and the public-oriented book Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans (Simon & Schuster, 2001).

4120 86th Ave SE | Mercer Island, WA 98040
 
January 27, 2019
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

November Meeting – Sunday November 25, 2018

We will have a special guest speaker, the Burke Museum’s new Fossil Lab Manager, Kelsie Abrams. Kelsie comes to the Burke from the S.D. School of Mines & Technology where she presided over their fossil prep lab. She graduated from Fort Hays State University with a Master of Science Degree. She was a Field Assistant at The Sternberg Museum of Natural History and can tell Hell Creek, Montana stories with the best of them.

She likes dead things and cats.

Please finish up those turkey leftovers and get over to the Burke for our last meeting in the old museum…

Burke Museum, Seattle WA
November 25, 2018
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.

September 2018 Meeting Photos

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September Meeting – Sunday September 23, 2018

Our presenter will be Michael Holland, the prep expert brought in to the Burke to oversee the Tufts Love T. rex preparation. This is not Michael’s first rex rodeo. He brings first hand knowledge of numerous rex projects, allowing him to parse out all of the special features of this new Burke specimen.
Michael Holland Productions
Natural History Exhibit Features
You will walk away with the latest and greatest information on this important dinosaur.
Bring your Show & Tell treasures, extra points for T rex skulls…
Burke Museum, Seattle WA
Burke Room
September 23, 2018
1pm-3pm

 

Guests and visitors are always welcome.