Explore the world of polar dinosaurs at Science for Alaska 2008

Submitted by Amy Hartley
Phone: 907-474-5823
01/18/08

Frigid temperatures and a landscape locked in snow for many months of the year may characterize the polar latitudes nowadays, but this hasn’t always been the case. Millions of years ago during the Mesozoic Period, the regions were vastly different. Instead of polar bears and caribou traversing expanses of treeless tundra, there were carnivorous dinosaurs on the hunt and herds of plant-eating duck-billed dinosaurs living in and around luxuriant forests. Pat Druckenmiller, curator of Earth Sciences at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, will provide audiences a passport back to that Mesozoic world on Tuesday, Jan. 22 with his lecture, "Polar Dinosaurs: Living the High Life in the Age of Dinosaurs."

Druckenmiller’s lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Westmark Gold Room in downtown Fairbanks. His talk on polar dinosaurs will be the second installment in the 2008 Science for Alaska Lecture Series. All ages are welcome to attend this one-hour event. There will be items on display from the UA Museum of the North, and admission is free.

Since 1992, the Science for Alaska Lecture Series has brought the current research of University of Alaska scientists to the community in free presentations that are entertaining and educational. With topics ranging from astronomy to zoology, the lecture series invites speakers from each major university campus to participate. This year, Science for Alaska will run for six consecutive Tuesdays in Fairbanks through Feb. 19. All lectures begin at 7 p.m. in the Westmark Gold Room.

The 2008 Science for Alaska Lecture Series is sponsored by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the Geophysical Institute and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

CONTACT: Pat Druckenmiller, curator of earth sciences, University of Alaska Museum of the North: 907-474-6954. Amy Hartley, Geophysical Institute information officer: 907-474-5823.

ON THE WEB: www.scienceforalaska.com