The final meeting of the Geological Society of Minnesota for 2022-2023 is the Spring Banquet at U Garden Restaurant (http://www.ugardenrestaurant.com/), 2725 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414, (612) 378-1255, near the East Bank U of MN campus. This is the same location as the Spring Banquet held in May, 2022. The restaurant is on the north side of University Ave SE, east of 27th Ave SE.  Map  There is a parking lot behind the restaurant.  

The banquet starts at 5:00 PM. No reservation or registration is needed. We recommend the buffet, which is priced at $17.95 + tax & tip. Hot tea and other beverages (except water) are extra. Ordering from the menu at the posted price is also an option. To make payment easy, we encourage everyone to plan to pay using cash. The restaurant does not accept checks.

You may come for just the lecture, skipping the meal if you wish; however we encourage you to enjoy the meal also, as the restaurant appreciates our business in return for hosting this event.  

During the banquet, the Video Library will be open for returns and rentals as usual.

Following the banquet, around 7 PM, will be our final lecture of 2022-2023. As with all GSM lectures, this lecture is free and open to the public.

Abstract: When people think about fossils, they often picture dinosaur bones or mammoth tusks, usually found in hot dry badlands. The story of ancient life is much more expansive than that, though. For example, here in Minnesota we can explore a seafloor more than 450 million years old just by stopping at the end of Summit Avenue or just north of Hidden Falls. Minnesota’s fossil record extends from deep in the Precambrian to practically yesterday. In this presentation we’ll visit some highlights and have a look at the many kinds of fossils that can be found here, including how to recognize them, what they would have been doing in life, and what they tell us about their host rocks. We’ll get a look at stromatolites from the Iron Range, Cretaceous leaves and sharks, giant rodents of the Pleistocene, and of course the state’s paleontological bread-and-butter: the wonderfully diverse and abundant denizens of our own Paleozoic tropical paradise.

Biography: Justin is a National Park Service associate who has worked closely with the paleontological program of the Geologic Resources Division since 2008. He earned a BA with a major in geology and a minor in biology from the University of St. Thomas in 2003, as a student of Lisa Lamb and Tom Hickson. He earned a master’s degree in geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2006, where he was a student of Karen Chin. He uses Equatorial Minnesota (https://equatorialminnesota.blogspot.com/) as an outlet for musings on Minnesota’s fossils and rocks, dinosaur paleontology, National Park Service paleontology, and other geological topics.