Who is Walt Wright?
Walt is an expert Botanist, Ecologist, Geologist, and Paleobotanist from Brea, California. He has professional experience these fields, including working as a Naturalist for the U.S. Forest Service in the Angeles Forest, education and research at the University of California, Riverside, and as consultant to federal government agencies on endangered species restoration and resource mitigation.

Walt has written extensively in the fields of botany and agriculture, and now in the field of petrified woods. He wrote a chapter on fossil woods of the Triassic Chinle Formation in the 2002 book, "Secrets of Petrified Plants" in both English and German. Walt draws fossil enthusiasts from around the world to his lectures. He schedules a few workshops every year in conjunction with mineral clubs and regional rock and fossil shows throughout the Western US. Over the past 21 years he has lectured in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Wyoming, and Texas.

Walt has one of the largest, if not the largest, petrified wood collection in the world. He came to paleobotany as a botanist, looking at the fossil plants from the same perspective he would today's living plants, but framing that view in the context of geologic time, plate tectonics, adaptation, survival, and extinction.

Walt attributes his "addiction" to petrified wood to his mother, who had a PhD in science and math, and who gave him his first piece of petrified wood at the age of ten. This opened the door to the fascinating world of petrified wood. He draws from this life-long passion for petrified wood to deliver an exceptional series of lectures that guide attendees through a unique learning opportunity.

The Petrified Wood Workshop
Walt will give an introductory lecture during NARG’s FossilFest on Saturday, August 9th, followed by the three day workshop. Attendees are expected to participate all three days (no partial days). The doors open at 8:30am, lectures promptly begin at 9am and run until 5pm. There is an hour break for lunch and a 15 minute break in the afternoon.

Location:
Rice Northwest Museum
of Rocks and Minerals
26385 NW Groveland Drive,
Hillsboro, OR 97124

Registration Fee: $90.00 per person. This includes admission to the Rice Museum and parking. An additional $20.00 includes all three daily lunches provided.

Materials: Bring your 20X hand lens, and up to three pieces of petrified wood for identification. A computer and a thumb drive will be useful. The textbook is Bruce Hoadley’s "Identifying Wood: Accurate Results with Simple Tools.” This book is available from the instructor for $40 if reserved, or online at Amazon.com (click on the link to Amazon to benefit NARG!). Hand lenses and additional course literature will be available for purchase from the instructor as well.

Syllabus:

Introduction to Petrified Wood
Saturday, August 9, 1:00 P.M.

The Saturday lecture is open and free to anyone interested, and is part of the NW FossilFest hosted by NARG.

Walt will discuss:

• habitats and conditions conducive to petrification, and the processes that wood must go through to become petrified;
• where petrified wood is found and the requirements of water, minerals, temperature, and pressure for successful petrification;
• decomposition, preservation, and mineralization;
• what difference does time make?
• replacement? petrification? permineralization?
• where are the trees? where are the limbs? why the chunks?

3-DAY SEMINAR

The Story, Continued
Sunday, August 10, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

• How do you look at wood? What do you see when you look?
• Conifer, Temperate dicot/hardwood, Tropical hardwood, Palm/Monocot;
• Geologic time, Tectonics, Climate, Vegetation change;
• Pangea, Gondwana, Laurasia;

Monday, August 11, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

• Medford , OR . area, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and contemporary localities;
• Sweet Home area, Holleywood Ranch, Fern Ridge, etc.
• Other localities-Alaska

Tuesday, August 12, 9 A.M.-5 P.M.

• Ginkgo, Cycadeoide, Cycad, Fern
• Foreign sites- Indonesia , Madagascar , Australia , Libya , Morocco , Argentina
• What's new? “Fossil Bambu,” Cones vs Fruit, Seed-ferns
• Tree rings