About the Presenters:
Michael J. Novacek is Senior Vice President and Provost of Science and Curator and Professor of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History.
Awarded a doctoral degree at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Novacek’s interests have ranged from the fossil record to data on DNA sequences. He has led or participated in paleontological expeditions to North American Rocky Mountain region, Baja California, the Andes Mountains of Chile, the Yemen Arab Republic, Argentina, Saharan Africa, Morocco, and the Gobi Desert of Mongolia in search of fossil dinosaurs and mammals. Dr. Novacek is the author of over 200 publications, including monographs and articles in international scientific journals such as Science and Nature, as well as the popular books Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs (1996), Time Traveler (2002) as well as Terra: Our 100 Million-Year-Old Ecosystem-and the Threats That Now Put It at Risk. He has also been a contributor to various popular press including Natural History, Scientific American, The Smithsonian, Time magazine, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. His work has been covered in BBC, NOVA, National Geographic, NBC, and Imax features. He has appeared on NBC the Today Show, PBS Nova Series, The Charlie Rose Show, Conan O’Brian, and the Colbert Report, and was the weekly science commentator on PBS World Focus. He is also featured in a 2015 documentary film: Racing Extinction by the Academy Award-winning Director Louis Psyhois.
As Provost he oversees a staff of 200 scientists, graduate and postgraduate fellows, and technicians who have responsibility for one of the world’s largest natural history and cultural collections. In his oversight role of the Museum’s exhibition program, he has directed the development and production of numerous temporary and permanent exhibits. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Science. He received the Roy Chapman Andrews Society Distinguished Explorer’s Award for 2003 and the Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorer’s Club in 2005 and Honorary Doctorates from Long Island University in 1996 and Beloit College in 2006.
Mark A. Norell received a Bachelor of Science in 1980 from Long Beach State University and a Masters of Science from San Diego State University in 1983. He received his Ph.D. in 1988 at Yale University (winning a John Spanger Nichols prize for best thesis). Since 1989 he has worked as a curator in paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Currently he is Chair of the Division of Paleontology. He also serves as an adjunct voting member of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.
Dr. Norell’s research encompasses a number of different areas. He has worked on theoretical topics relating to the study of diversity through time, the efficacy of the fossil record in capturing phylogenetic history, and how new approaches can be used to study the paleobiology of extinct animals. As a side project he is looking into the evolutionary origins of caner in humans. His work has taken him across the globe. Dr. Norell has been accompanying scientific expeditions since he was 14 years old and has taken part in over 75 international scientific expeditions. He has worked actively in Patagonia, Cuba, the Chilean Andes, the Sahara, Laos, Thailand, China, West Africa and Mongolia. The Mongolia project (now in its 30th year) has received world-wide attention. Career highlights include the discovery of the bizarre theropod Mononykus, the discovery of the richest Cretaceous fossil locality in the world Ukhaa Tolgod, the first embryo of a theropod dinosaur, the description of dinosaurs with feathers, and the first indication of a dinosaur nesting on a clutch of eggs like a bird. Dr. Norell has named several other dinosaurs including Shuvuuia, Apsaravis, Citipati, Byronosaurus, Huaxiagnathus, Shenzhousaurus, Tsaagan, Shanag, Erketu, Sciurimimus, Sinovenator, Balaur, Almas, Achillonychus, and several other mammals, lizards, pterosaurs and turtles. He has published over 250 scientific articles.
He has been awarded medals from the Mongolian Government, including the Nairamdal Medal by Decree of the President Elbegdorj of Mongolia. The highest honor awarded by the Mongolian Government to a non citizen in 2013 and the Khubilay Khaan Medal by Decree of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences also in 2013.
Ann Bausum writes about history for readers of all ages from her home in southern Wisconsin. She works to make history feel alive and irresistible even for reluctant readers. Her books frequently explore issues of social justice from American history, including women’s voting rights, the civil rights movement of the American South, free speech, immigration, and queer history. She explored the topic of Stubby, a World War I service dog, in two separate titles, one for young readers and again for adults. Bausum’s fifteen books appear frequently on lists of recommended and notable titles and have earned numerous awards. In 2017, the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C., honored the body of Bausum’s work with its venerable Nonfiction Award. Find out more about her work at www.AnnBausum.com. How do you pronounce “Bausum?” Answer: It rhymes with “awesome.”
Email: ABausum.query@gmail.com | www.AnnBausum.com | Facebook.com/AnnBausum | Follow on Twitter @AnnBausum
Dr. Prof. Tsogtbaatar Khishigjav received his Bachelor’s in Biology, and later in English, from the National University of Mongolia in 1981 and 1991, respectively. He conducted a fellowship in Cambridge University in 1999, and his Doctorate of Science in Kagoshima University in Japan. He has worked for the Institute of Geology in Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS), Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy from 1981 in various positions. Starting from 1996, he has served as Researcher and Head of Paleontological Laboratory and Museum at the Mongolian Paleontological Center, moving on to become the Director of MPC in 2014. Between 2015-2019, he was the Director of Institute of Paleontology and Geology, MAS.
He is currently the Director of Institute of Paleontology, MAS, and is also a Vice-President of Asian Dinosaur Association; chairman of Ikh Mongol Foundation; chairman of Association of the Protection on the Mongolian Paleontological Findings; member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; and member of committees on Evaluation on the Historical and Cultural Heritage in MoECS. For his contributions to the scientific community, he has been awarded the order of the Polar Star in 2013.
M. Saandar, Ph.D. is a mapping specialist of long experience in Mongolia and abroad. He received his Ph.D. degree in Satellite Mapping and Space Geodesy at the Moscow Central Research Institute. He started his career in the early 1970s as young engineer at the State Administration of Geodesy and Cartography for preparation the Soviet- Mongolian joint space flight on the natural resource mapping system. In the mid of 1980s he was Associate Professor at the Technical University of Mongolia teaching photogrammetry, aerial photography and space remote sensing. From the early 1990s he was Researcher at the Geoinformation Center working on design implementation of geological GIS system in cooperation with UNDP and the Ontario Geological Survey, Canada.
In post–Soviet times Saandar founded MonMap Engineering Services Company to initially carry out the ground calibration GPS transect survey in Mongolia under US Endeavour Shuttle Radar Topography Space mission flight program. More recently his company has been involved in development of the nation-wide GPS network (MONREF97) in Mongolia in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense of Mongolia and other organizations. He is a previous speaker at the America Center for Mongolian Studies in Ulaanbaatar and Co-Leader of the CAE II centennial rephotographic mission in Mongolia.
J. K. “Kelly” Cluer is founder and co-leader of the CAE II centennial rephotographic mission relocating views of the Central Asiatic Expedition in Mongolia and producing images with precise GPS locations to document a century of change in landscapes and urban settings. He is a geologist with interest in a wide range of Earth sciences and has been involved in the exploration business for about 30 years with both junior and major mining companies. He holds a M.Sc. degree in Geosciences from the University of Arizona and is a past President of the Geological Society of Nevada. His current role, based in Magadan, Russia, is Director of Business Development and Greenfield Exploration for Kinross Gold Corp, a Toronto-based multi-national mining company and a top ten gold producer. Prior to this assignment Cluer co-founded and managed two Toronto Stock Exchange listed copper and gold exploration companies in Mongolia and Nevada. From the late 1990s to mid 2000s he was Regional Exploration Manager for Centerra Gold, and was awarded the Honored Geologist of Mongolia medal along with his Mongolian team members for putting the Boroo gold mine into production, unlocking its value for Mongolia’s economy. His exploration team is credited with discovery of the nearby Gatsuurt gold deposit. Cluer is a long-time enthusiast of all things Mongolia, and a key benefactor to the Saandar Library Project – a leading English language history and technical collection in Ulaanbaatar. He is a previous speaker at the American Center for Mongolian Studies, and is a member of The Explorers Club, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Roy Chapman Andrews Society.
|
