New Oppurtunity for Students of Vertebrate Paleontology

[Josh Smith <smithjb@sas.upenn.edu>]

Dear friends and colleagues,

The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPSC) at Washington 
University (http://www.wustl.edu) has long been known as a major 
powerhouse in planetary geology, isotope geochemistry, and geophysics 
(indeed, it is perceived as one of ?_the_ places? to study these 
topics).  However, aside from a well-established invertebrate 
paleontologist in Harold Levin, WashU has largely focused its resources 
on developing the afore mentioned areas, and like a growing number of 
top private universities, has spent at least a decade moving away from 
what I guess could be called ?classic geoscience."  Now, in a rather 
surprising move, EPSC has decided to jump into the arenas of 
paleobiology and sedimentology with both feet.  Dr. Levin, myself, my 
wife Dr. Jennifer Smith, and Dr. Raymond Arvidson (who is a planetary 
geologist but who does some process geomorphology) have been tasked 
with forming the core of this new arm of the department.  As such, we 
have created a fledgling vertebrate paleontology research group in 
EPSC, to add to the existing one in the Department of Anthropology, 
where you can study fossil mammals with Dr. Tab Rasmussen 
(http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/blurb/b_rasm.html).  Tangential to 
this, Dr. Carrine Blank (another new hire) and Dr. Jan Amend are 
expecting to offer undergraduate and graduate degree study in 
astrobiology and modifying the already established program in 
geomicrobiology.  There is also a possibility of an additional soft-
rock hire in the not too distant future.

Given these new developments, we are now ripe for the plucking by 
potential students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  
While I would say that if you are aiming for a higher degree in 
paleontology the first thing we should probably do is ship you off for 
a psychiatric evaluation, the applicants keep coming.  As such, we will 
continue to tap the applicant pool.  So, if you have a problem, if no 
one else can help, and if you can find us, maybe you can hire?.The A-
Team.  Well, OK, no, but perhaps you can come to St. Louis and pursue a 
degree with us.

In addition to invertebrate paleontology, which is already offered at 
Washington, we will soon be offering, in EPSC, degree study in 
vertebrate paleontology and paleoecology, clastic sedimentology, 
paleoenvironment reconstructions, geoarchaeology, Quaternary geology, 
and Quaternary paleoclimatology at the A.B. (Bachelor of Arts), A.M. 
(Master of Arts), and Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) levels.  We expect 
to have these degree programs in place as of next September and thus 
expect to be accepting applications during this coming admissions round.

EPSC currently offers an A.B. in Earth and Planetary Sciences, with 
tracks in geology, geophysics, and geochemistry.  To these programs we 
expect to begin offering new tracks in paleobiology and geoarchaeology 
(with thesis possibilities in any of the areas listed above).  Dr. 
Blank is also a proposing an astrobiology track.  For interested 
prospective students, the departmental requirements for the A.B. in 
Earth and Planetary Sciences can be viewed online at 
(http://epsc.wustl.edu/admin/academics/undrgrad.html).  The 
undergraduate admissions office can be reached online at 
(http://admissions.wustl.edu/).

We will also be accepting applications from prospective A.M. and Ph.D. 
candidates in the new fields listed above.  Departmental requirements 
for the various tracks leading to these degrees, as they stand right 
now, can be viewed online at 
(http://epsc.wustl.edu/admin/academics/grad.html).  This information is 
general and does not yet include specific data on VP.

Regarding VP specifically, my research projects will be relocated to 
St. Louis come September and the WashU vertebrate paleontology research 
group will have active work going on in a number of areas.  However, in 
EPSC, most of our current energies are and will be focused on questions 
related to ancient ecosystem dynamics and paleobiology in the Late 
Cretaceous of Gondwana and in the Holocene and Pleistocene of 
northeastern Africa.  The project office for the Bahariya Dinosaur 
Project is also now located at WashU.  The degree programs will 
attempt, as much as is possible, to integrate both geology and biology 
into a multifaceted approach to examining ancient ecosystems?a lofty 
goal to be sure, and perhaps a complete pipe-dream, but that is what we 
are trying for.

Students interested in pursuing a degree in one of these areas can 
contact one of the relevant professors directly through the EPSC 
website (http://epsc.wustl.edu), but specific graduate _admissions_ 
questions should be addressed to Professor Robert Tucker at 
(tucker@levee.wustl.edu), or to me at (smithjb@levee.wustl.edu) since I 
am on the graduate recruiting committee.  We have, in the department, 
in biology, in anthropology, or elsewhere on campus, pretty much any 
piece of analytical equipment one might want in pursuing a degree in 
these areas and I will have a new paleo lab in place come late fall 
2002 or early spring 2003.  The vertebrate osteology collections are 
currently not bad, and will be improving as soon as I start 
purchasing.  Come 2004, EPSC is moving into a new building and the VP 
research group will have three state-of-the-art lab spaces at its 
disposal, including a decked out prep facility and image 
analysis/morphometric, histological, and phylogenetic computer and 
microscope facilities.  We will continue to maintain very close ties 
with the VP group at the University of Pennsylvania and it is entirely 
likely that our students will spend some time at Penn.  Moreover, there 
is an active ecology and vertebrate zoology research community here 
that we have begun to develop ties with, particularly with the labs of 
Jonathan Losos (http://www.biology.wustl.edu/~lososlab/) and Jonathan 
Chase (http://www.biology.wustl.edu/faculty/chase.html).  Washington 
has a very large endowment and the department is quite well off, 
allowing for our graduate award packages to be highly competitive; most 
students are fully supported throughout their time here.  Perhaps more 
importantly, EPSC is a strong department and has a very good history of 
employing its Ph.D. alumni. So, if you can handle the humidity in 
Missouri, we encourage you to come to the Dark Side?

Cheers,
-Josh

----
Dr. Joshua B. Smith
Assistant Professor of Geology
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
Washington University
Campus Box 1169
1 Brookings Drive
108 Wilson Hall
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
Office: 321 McDonnell Hall
Phone: 314-935-7033  FAX: 314-935-7361
smithjb@levee.wustl.edu
http://epsc.wustl.edu

Director, Bahariya Dinosaur Project
http://egyptdinos.org