Bozeman Magazine

Dale Greenwalt, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History, will present on how emerging science that studies the biomolecules of fossils is transforming our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth. This presentation will be held Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Hager Auditorium at the Museum of the Rockies. It is free and open to the public, with a reception and book signing to follow.  

Greenwalt received his doctorate from Iowa State University. He has published many journal articles and a book, “Remnants of Ancient Life: The New Science of Old Fossils.” His work is an example of a new field of paleobiology — the study of fossil animals and plants — that looks at fossils containing ancient proteins, viruses and DNA. He has spent more than a decade studying fossilized, blood-engorged mosquitoes and their biomolecules. 

“Ancient lake sediments in northwestern Montana contain one of the most significant repositories of fossil insects in the world,” said Greenwalt. “The 46-million-year-old site is the only known source of fossilized blood-engorged mosquitos and, extraordinarily, remnants of their last blood meals.” 

This presentation is hosted by MSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Ivan Doig Center for the Study of Lands and Peoples of the North American West. 

For more information, visit https://www.montana.edu/earthsciences/earthscienceseminar/seminar.html.