I always welcome the opportunity to talk to the public about the work I do and about paleontology in general. Below are some examples of outreach work I have performed over the years.
2021
I was interviewed along with my Ph.D. advisor, for my work on ankylosaur nasal passages, by Scientific American writer, Aaron Martin. It's always nice to have an excuse to talk about these amazing critters.
2020
Zoom guest spots
Lockdowns and CoViD-19 limited most outreach activities, but the switch to a very online format did offer unique opportunties to speak to classes around the country using Zoom, including The University of Maryland Baltimore's dinosaur physiology class taught by Dr. Sarah Leupen
2019
Summer Health Academy for Research Exploration (SHARE)
I helped mentor gifted high school students from under served communities on what it's like working in a scientific lab. My student, Jordan, learned how to segment the individual bones from the skull of an iguana and reconstruct them as 3D models and 3D printouts.
2018
St. Louis Science Center
I was invited to talk about my work at the St. Louis Science Center's annual SciFest. Their theme that year was titled: Engineering our World. I had the opportunity to interact with many engaged kids and showcase some of what paleontology can do.
2017
Local school visits
I had the opportunity to visit the classrooms of the teachers that I worked with for the Student's Discover series, and help them work on their dinosaur-themed projects, as well as give insight into what it is like to be a paleontologist.
Reptile and Amphibian Day
I was able to contribute a talk to the NCMNS's annual Reptile and Amphibian Day. Their theme this year was sea turtles. My talk showcased how diverse turtles have been over their evolutionary history.
2016
The Digital Dinos Project
Working with a talented group of NC State undergraduates, we created a "proof of concept" website where members of the public could go to help collect data on bone morphology. The site allowed users to manipulate 3D models of bones and place digital landmarks on the bones. These data were then recorded and stored in a database that researchers could download and use in future statistical analyses on bone shape over time.
Students Discover
Using a grant awarded to the NCMNS and NC State by the National Science Foundation, I worked on a project called: Students Discover. In this project, I teamed up with middle school teachers from around the North Carolina region. The teachers got to experience what it was like to work in a paleontology lab, and together, we created a middle school curriculum that incorporated paleontology in the classroom and allowed the students to acquire data that they could send back to us for future projects.
2015
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Working as a postdoc in the ZannoLab at the NCMNS, I was able to present my research to a diverse audience of museum goers at the NCMNS's Daily Planet theatre. I also provided guided tours of the ZannoLab, showcasing the many discoveries the lab had uncovered in their years of fossil hunting in the outskirts of Utah.
Citizen Science
Working with a talented group of scientists lead by ecologist, Rob Dunn, I introduced budding scientists to the concept of data collection for the ongoing Shark Tooth Forensics project.
2013
This year saw a return of the Young Scholars Ohio program to Ohio University. Once again I helped the WitmerLab give gifted children from around the country, the chance to to see what life is like working in a paleontology lab.
2012
Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery
Working with the WitmerLab I helped showcase the diversity seen in dinosaurs along with how much we can learn from the fossils. Children were given a chance to ask questions and interact wth casts of many dinosaur species.
I worked extensively with a talented pre-med student to segment out an iguana skull. From there we made interactive 3D PDFs and a movie showcasing all the bones of the skull. The data from this project are freely available for everyone at the Visible Interactive Iguana webpage.
2011
The Visible Interactive Ostrich
Working closely with a talented undergraduate in the lab, we put together a 3D PDF and movies featuring the first digitally available data for the skull and some of the associated soft tissues in an ostrich (Struthio camelus). Data have been made freely accessible at the WitmerLab Visible Interactive Ostrich page.
Working as a member of the WitmerLab I contributed to the education of the Young Scholars Ohio Program. This program took gifted children from around the country and gave them the opportunity to see what life is like working in a paleontology lab.
2010
Working as a member of the WitmerLab I contributed to the education of the Young Scholars Ohio Program. This program took gifted children from around the country and gave them the opportunity to see what life is like working in a paleontology lab.
The Visible Interactive Alligator
This was a collaborative project that the WitmerLab was doing with the Holliday Lab. The result was an interactive 3D model of a hatchling and adult American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). I worked on the hatchling, separating the skull into its respective bones. I also created videos that showcased the anatomy. All these data are freely available now at the Visible Interactive Anatomy website.
