Sunday, November 12, 2023

Dr. Margot “Maru” Nelson, CMM Assistant Curator of Paleontology, will present a free public lecture - Becoming Squalo-doctor: my PhD Journey with an Iconic Fossil Toothed Whale of the Calvert Cliffs. Dr. Margot D. Nelson, a newly minted PhD from George Mason University, will present a talk on her doctoral dissertation research on the Squalodontidae, a family of toothed whales present in the late Oligocene to Middle Miocene (from approximately 26 – 12 million years ago). In this talk, she will discuss what initially brought her into whale paleontology, and why the Squalodontidae was the perfect “dolphin” for a doctoral dissertation. She’ll give a travelogue of her pandemic research trip in Europe to study critical and historical specimens. Lastly, she will highlight some of the results of her dissertation research, along with some obligatory Moby Dick references.