Research

Graduate Research

Advisor: Dr. Mark Clementz

As an M.S. student at the University of Wyoming, I am currently studying the fossils of Natural Trap Cave (NTC) in Northern Wyoming. NTC has a wild and fascinating history, with a known fossil record dating back to roughly 150 thousand years ago in the late Pleistocene. Due to it's hidden entrance with a vertical drop of 24.5 meters (~80 feet), thousands of animals have fallen into the cave. My research encompasses the question: what mechanisms affect the quality of preservation of the fossils found within the cave, and which of those mechanisms, if any, are a controlling variable?

Lower jaw of 'Crocodylus' affinis

Undergraduate Research

During my time as an undergrate at UW, I had the pleasure of preparing and identifying an Eocene (~50 mya) crocodile from Western Wyoming. This project not only served as my Honor's Capstone, but provided me with a space to create my own hypothesis and methods through which I can provide a result. Through this research, I gained experience in fossil preparation, reconstruction, and identification. After removing the matrix surrounding the jaw of the crocodile, I was able to perform a comparative analysis with other crocodiles of the same age and region. The specimen was identified as 'Crocodylus' affinis.

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual conference in Minneapolis, MN, 2024

Stabilizing the bone

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