(Flagstaff, Ariz.)—MNA’s Geology Department and the Colbert Chair have been restored, with Dr. David D. Gillette again at the helm announced Museum Director Robert G. Breunig. With this restoration, the Geology program will once again become a vital part of the museum’s research and educational programs. In addition to Gillette, prominent mammal paleontologist and researcher Dr. Michael O. Woodburne has been named Honorary Curator of Geology and former MNA Curator, William J. Breed, has been named Curator Emeritus.
Woodburne moved to Flagstaff in 2003 with his wife, Janice, following his retirement as Chairman of the Department of Geology at the University of California, Riverside. Breed was MNA Curator of Geology from 1960–1980. Both Woodburne and Breed keep an active research interest in Antarctica, now with a new perspective on that continent’s relationship to the Colorado Plateau. Although officially a member of the Collections Department, Janet Whitmore Gillette, who is also a paleontologist, continues to add support to the Geology Department as Associate Collection Manager for Natural Sciences.
The Colbert Chair, named in honor of the late Dr. Edwin H. Colbert, is partially funded by the Colbert Fund, a restricted endowment fund. In order to grow the museum’s paleontology program, one of the priorities of the Museum will be to increase the size of the fund by seeking additional endowment gifts from donors interested in the future of vertebrate paleontology at MNA. Additional funding for the geology program will come from various grants and contracts.
Gillette’s excitement about bringing his expertise in Mesozoic reptile paleontology and ice age mammals back to MNA was evident when he was interviewed for this story. He aims to continue to make his work as the Colbert Curator a critical element of geological and paleontological studies on the Colorado Plateau and to enlarge MNA’s role in the larger community of science in this region.
Conducting paleontological research with regional and national scope including exploration and fieldwork, lab work, study, and publications are Gillette’s overall goals, accompanied by educational benefits and curriculum development based on his research. “MNA needs to be well-rounded and take full advantage of this incredible region,” he stated. “I expect that one day this department will add a curator of Grand Canyon geology, further strengthening MNA’s research contributions to the Colorado Plateau. I also expect that MNA will eventually add endowed curator positions in biology and anthropology. Together, this complete research program will reflect the magnificence of the Colorado Plateau and tie into our collections and our proposed repository facility.”
Education is at the top of Gillette’s mind as he thinks about ways to increase MNA’s scientific outreach. To that end, the plesiosaur exhibit now displayed at the Museum is moving to Page in May and will be a focal point for education in the communities that contributed to those discoveries. He pictures producing small traveling exhibits on a rotating schedule, first at MNA and then on to other museums, libraries, city halls, or community colleges.
And this summer? Gillette heads out to southern Utah, moving west to east from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Canyonlands National Park to continue his work in Cretaceous biodiversity. Who knows what he will find.