Fossil Fulbrighter

Paleontologist. Fulbrighter. PhD canidate at University of Oregon. I'm wandering around Kyrgyzstan for ten months looking at rocks and really dead animals.

 

Hey y'all! I'm Win McLaughlin! I'm a PhD candidate in the Geological Sciences at University of Oregon working with Samantha Hopkins. For 2015 I'm a Fulbright Student Research in Kyrgyzstan. I'll be spending ten months there collecting data for my PhD in vertebrate paleontology. Kyrgyzstan is the single most earthquake-prone country in the world and I'm using fossils to figure out how old the rocks are and how old and active the earthquake faults crosscutting them are. I'm interested in biostratigraphy (using fossils to determine age), stratigraphy (how layers of rock relate to each other), and paleoecology (study of ancient environments and environmental change). When I'm not gluing rhino fossil back together or digging holes in the ground I like to ride horses, rock climb, drink beer, and take pictures! All opinion on this blog are mine and do not reflect the opinion of various groups I'm associated with.