Claremont, Calif. (August 16, 2013)—Pitzer College Assistant Professor of Biology Lars Schmitz and students Patrick Niedermeyer ’15 and Chloe Shih ’15 will spend a week studying the fossils of prehistoric creatures in collections at Peking University and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China.
“These museums have some of the most complete and best preserved skeletons of ichthyosaurs and dinosaurs in the world,” Schmitz said. “For example, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology houses many of the most incredible feathered dinosaurs from China, which have revolutionized our understanding of the dinosaur-bird lineage.”
Schmitz also hopes the visit will establish strong collaborative relations with the paleontology community in Beijing.
Niedermeyer and Shih, a management engineering major, were selected to join Schmitz on this trip because of their interest in evolution, anatomy and statistics. They plan to document their experience through blogs, photos and video to share what they learn with other students when they return to campus.
Schmitz teaches at the Pitzer’s W.M. Keck Science Department and analyzes the functional morphology of vertebrates, focusing on how eye shape and retina structures evolve. He has co-authored more than 20 publications in journals such as Science, Evolution and Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The trip is funded by Pitzer’s Institute for Global/Local Action & Study and the W.M. Keck Science Department.
