Earth History

• William I. Ausich
• Loren E. Babcock
• E. Scott Bair
• Stig M. Bergstrom
• Mark A. Kleffner
• Lawrence A. Krissek
• Matthew Saltzman
• Walter Sweet
• Peter-N. Webb

Our paleontology program was ranked 8th BY US News and World Report.

Members of this group consist of a past president of the Paleontological Society, a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, two Fulbright scholars, and a winner of the prestigious Humboldt prize. Our research occurs at field sites across North American as well as sites in Asia, Europe, and Antarctica. Peer-reviewed publications appear in journals such as Science, Nature, Journal of Paleontology, Paleobiology, Lethaia, Palaios, and Geological Society of America Bulletin.

Currently there are 12 graduate students in the paleontology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy programs. Some recent projects include:

• Community Paleoeocology of the Cambrian Kaili Biota, China
• Microbial carbonates in the Silurian
• Biomarkers in Paleozoic crinoids
• Timing of the Ordovician ice age and the role of carbon dioxide in climate change

The department's Orton Geological Museum was constructed in 1893 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This museum was named after Edward F. B. Orton, who was Ohio State University's first president as well as the former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Geological Society of America. Orton Museum is one of the primary depositories of fossil and rock specimens in the Midwest and includes a public display museum. Strengths of the collections include conodonts, Pleistocene molluscs, echinoderms and arthropods.