Earth Sciences
In May 2015, the museum opened an exhibition highlighting major new discoveries of dinosaurs and marine reptiles made by the earth sciences department in Alaska. It is the culmination of many years of fieldwork, study, and collaboration with scientists and state and federal agencies to better understand Alaska’s amazing paleontological history during the Age of Dinosaurs. Curator Druckenmiller worked closely with the education and exhibits staff to produce an engaging, interactive, and educational set of displays that not only tell the story of Alaskan dinosaurs, but also how paleontologists find and study fossils. Most importantly, many of the most recent fossil discoveries were displayed for the first time, including a rare thalattosaur fossil from Southeast Alaska, dinosaur tracks from the Yukon River, and bones and teeth of a variety of dinosaurs from the North Slope – the most productive site for polar dinosaurs in the world. 38
University of Alaska Museum of the North
Annual Report FY2015
Work also began on an exciting new dinosaur display in the museum lobby. Thanks to support from the UA Board of Regents, the museum will install three free-standing duck-billed dinosaur skeletons from northern Alaska. The mounts are made from casts of real bones collected along the Colville River and come from a new species unique to Alaska. They were made by exhibit creator Michael Holland of Bozeman, Montana. A large (11’x16’) and realistic painting of the new Alaskan dinosaur by Anchorage artist James Havens in August 2015 is also on display in that space. Thanks to funding from the Rasmuson Foundation, this striking work will serve as the backdrop for the skeletal mounts. ABOVE: Curator Pat Druckenmiller carefully navigates a steep slope while looking for Triassic marine reptiles on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. Photo by Patrick Druckenmiller.