NARG's

17th Annual
Northwest Fossil Fest

August 3, 2024

Inquire, Inspire, Interact

Please join us at the
Tualatin Heritage Center in
Tualatin, Oregon and enjoy

A Look to the Past
Twenty years of
paleo search and rescue
in the Pacific Northwest!

NARG is sponsoring a free event for families to learn about fossils, fossil collecting, preparation, and identification. There will be informative displays, demonstrations, lectures, and educational activities for children.

Fossil experts are scheduled to speak on recent fossil discoveries and how contributions by the North America Research Group has impacted the scientific understanding of the ancient Pacific Northwest.

 

2024 Lectures
 

TBA

Activities For Children
of all ages!

Kids, have you ever wanted to find your own fossil?
Try your hand at screening for shark teeth
or participate in a fossil hunt.

Learn to use the same preparation tools and techniques the professionals use to make fossils look cool.

Learn to make an acetate peel from an ancient piece of wood to look at the internal cell structures.

Plus other games and educational activities.
All kids will go home with free fossils.

Identification

Bring in your fossils for identification help.
View fossils on display.

Visit the fossil preparation demonstration
to see how professionals clean and prepare specimens.

Details
 

Tualatin Heritage Center
8700 SW Sweek Drive
Tualatin, Oregon 972062

Free Admission to the Festival and the Museum.
Sponsored by NARG.
Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

Past FossilFest Highlights
 

2018 Lectures

Spike Tooth Salmon Ceremony

Members of NARG will present the University of Oregon and the Condon Collection an exemplary and historical specimen of a Spike Tooth salmon. Dr. Ed Davis of the U of O will be on hand to accept the specimen and make remarks.

Fossil Horses in Oregon and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Dr. Nick Famoso of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument will give a presentation on the latest understanding of fossil horses and their relationship to the paleoclimates of ancient Oregon.

Fossil Horses and the Relationship to changing climates.

Dr. Bruce MacFadden of the University of Florida, and fossil horse expert, will talk about the latest discoveries of fossil horses and their relationship to changing climates from a global perspective. Additionally he will discuss the importance of infusing this information into
K-12 education.

2016 Lectures

Victor Perez, University of Florida
"The Giant Megalodon and what we know about it from teeth."

2015 Lectures

Mike Full, Yamhill River Pleistocene Project and Dave Ellingson of the Woodburn Pleistocene locality at the high school.

2014 Lectures

Walt Wright's 3-day workshop on Identifying Petrified Wood

Brad Newport and the Holleywood Ranch
Brad Newport is the owner and operator of the Holleywood Ranch, one of the most abundant petrified wood localities on the planet! Brad gave an introductory talk about the ranch, his collection, and the history behind it all.

2013 Lectures

MacKenzie Smith, NARG Member
MacKenzie lectured on the history of fossil investigations in the Pacific Northwest, highlighting the key individuals who have had a significant impact on the knowledge of our local fossil record.

Clementine Brown, Stonerose
A lecture on the benefits of Stonerose not only as a fun place to visit but as a business that provides the public with a unique experience and the community with consistent tourism revenues. In addition, looking forward on what is the future of Stonerose?

2012 Lectures

A History of Paleontological Research of the John Day Fossil Beds, highlighting the Bridge Creek Flora
Dr. Jeff Myers, Western Oregon University
.

Dr. Myers will lectured on the history of paleontological research specifically relating to the John Day Fossil Beds. This was the lecture presented at last year's GSA conference.

2011 Lectures
Fossils of Vancouver Island
and Central Oregon

Gar Rothwell and Ruth Stockey are visiting guest professors of geology at Oregon State University. They have been studying fossils on Vancouver Island and Central Oregon and gave two lectures updating their recent discoveries. This includes a Jurassic wood locality near Izee that the professors have been using acetate peels to study details.

Tertiary Marine Mammals of Oregon
Dr. William N. Orr, Retired Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon, and Curator of the Condon Museum

Dr. Orr presented a lecture on Oregon's "other fossil record" of vertebrate animals. Oregon is well known for the John Day Formation and all the interesting extinct animals that have been found in the fossil record. What isn't talked about much is the extraordinary record of tertiary marine mammals on the Western side of the Cascade Mountains. Learn more about the significance of the many specimens on display at the FossilFest.

2010 Lecture
Dr. Bill Rember

Dr. Bill Rember, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Idaho and Director of the Tertiary Research Center, has been unearthing and studying the Clarkia fossil flora of northern Idaho for decades. These exquisitely preserved plant remains illustrate the diverse biota that thrived in this region when it was warmer about 15 million years ago. Many of the fossil leaves display their original autumn colors, while some still contain green chloroplasts and foster biochemical correlations with similar fossil species elsewhere in the world and with contemporary local plants.

This presentation included numerous photographs of the Clarkia fossils, as well as a history of their formation and preservation. First discovered in 1972, the fossils were initially deposited in the sediments of a dammed Miocene lake. The cold, anoxic conditions and rapid sedimentation at the 100- to 150-meter depths of this narrow lake, as well as ensuing tectonic stability, have left northern Idaho with a unique, world-class collection of Miocene plant fossils.

Dr. Rember is an active member of the White Pine Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society, who has generously offered his expertise through field trips and presentations for numerous organizations, effectively promoting ongoing interest and scientific knowledge of the significant but undervalued Clarkia fossil beds.

Historical Overview of
Collecting Fossils at Republic

Karl Volkman, Collections Manager
Stonerose Interpretive Center
Republic, Washington

While many people are familiar with the Stonerose Interpretive Center in Republic, Washington and its public access fossil site, the history leading up to the Formation of Stonerose is not as well known. From the onset of gold fever in the 1890s to the modern day fossil bonanza, many changes in thinking and practices have occurred, all leading to the formation of an important and integral part of modern Eocene paleontology.

About Karl Volkman...
Since first digging at the Stonerose fossil site 19 years ago, Karl Volkman has been hooked on fossils in general and the Republic fossils in particular. Karl is now the Collections Manager for Stonerose during the busy summer digging season and working toward a degree in paleontology during the off season.

SCHEDULE

Saturday
August 3, 2024

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Tualatin
Heritage Center


NW Fossil Fests
from the Past

2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014

2013


2012


2011


2010


2009


2008


2007


2006