GeoCultura Tour Leaders in the News

Marcia Bjornerud

The Women You Should Know website shines a spotlight on women who are “striving, building, and innovating, changing the status quo, crushing stereotypes, and defying the odds”; GeoCultura tour leader Marcia Bjornerud is clearly one of these. Marcia was the subject of a 25 August article on the site which touched on her past, her teaching expertise and her eloquence as a communicator of scientific topics. You may read the article here.

Marcia leads our 6-day tour of geologic, architectural and artistic wonders of Wisconsin on an east-to-west journey across the state: Wisconsin Rocks and Art: Glaciers, Baraboo, Frank Lloyd Wright and the American Players Theatre.

Paul Olsen

Paul Olsen developed an interest in dinosaurs when, as a teen in New Jersey, he and a friend discovered some dinosaur footprints. They led a successful campaign to have the site preserved, and the Riker Hill Fossil Park is now a National Natural Landmark. The boys received a Presidential Commendation from Richard Nixon for their efforts.

He continues to research dinosaurs as professor of earth and environmental sciences at the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York (he pursues other interests as well, such as the patterns of climate change over geological time scales, mass extinctions, and the effects of evolutionary innovations on global biogeochemical cycles). An article in the Fall 2022 issue of Columbia Magazine summarized recent work by Paul and colleagues on evidence that dinosaurs could tolerate cold weather. This adaptability likely provided an evolutionary advantage and was a factor in the long reign of the dinosaurs. You may read the article here.

Paul leads our 6-day multi-topic tour from Northampton MA to Philadelphia, via Manhatten (15-21 September 2024): Dinosaurs, Paleo-Astronomy, Landscapes and the Hudson River School: Science, History and Art in the Northeastern US