Presented by Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., Ph.D.
Principal Lecturer, Department of Geology, University of Maryland
Research Associate, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History
Saturday, December 11, 2021, 1:30 pm
B-CC Regional Services Center
4805 Edgemoor Lane 2nd Floor (West Room)
Bethesda, MD
Directions: http://tinyurl.com/bcccenter
Mass extinctions are catastrophic overhauls of the diversity of life on
land and sea. There are five well-attested such events in the history of
life, and evidence we could be on the cusp of a sixth. We'll look at the
record of past events, and what we know about how they happened and what
might have caused them. These environmental crises might serve as
warnings for our own future, and what a "sixth extinction" might mean
for human society.
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is Principal Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology at
the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park. His
research focuses on the origin, evolution, adaptations, and behavior of
carnivorous dinosaurs, and especially of tyrannosauroids (Tyrannosaurus
rex and its kin). He received his Bachelors in Earth & Planetary Geology
at Johns Hopkins in 1987 and his Ph.D. from the Department of Geology &
Geophysics at Yale in 1992. He is also a Research Associate of the
Department of Paleobiology of the Smithsonian Institution National
Museum of Natural History and serves on the Scientific Council of
Maryland Academy of Science (which operates the Maryland Science Center
(Baltimore, MD)). In addition to his dinosaur research, Holtz has been
active in scientific outreach. He has been a consultant on museum
exhibits around the world, and on numerous documentaries. He is the
author of award-winning popular audience books. He is the current editor
of the “Life of the Past” series at Indiana University Press.
This talk will be live streamed.
https://youtu.be/S9QJMpJ9tD0
Note: Effective November 20 at 12:01 a.m.: all persons in Montgomery County over the age of two must wear a face covering in any location accessible to the public.
