Mammoths Topic of Second Tate Spring Lecture

Casper College image.

“Here, There, and Everywhere: Mammoths of and Around the Black Hills and Their Importance on a Broad Scale” is the title of the second lecture for the 2019 Tate Geological Museum Spring Lecture Series on Thursday, April 30.

“Mammoths are iconic emblems of the Ice Age,” said Justin Wilkins, speaker. But beyond being mascots, according to Wilkins, the origins and distribution of mammoths are important for illustrating key concepts regarding climate change and evolution. “As long-gone records of the past, mammoths most dramatically demonstrate these ideas in their nearly worldwide colonization of continents and island environments,” he said.

Wilkins, a geospatial technician with The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota, earned his master’s degree in paleontology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He is also a cartographer and the secondary educator, working with other scientists and educators to broaden the reach and impact of The Mammoth Site.

Wilkin’s lecture, which is free and open to all, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Sharon J. Nichols Auditorium, Room 160, in the McMurry Career Studies Center located on the Casper College campus.

The final presentation in the series will be on Thursday, May 9.