Grant S. Boardman, PhD Candidate

Grant S. Boardman in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming

Figure 1. Myself in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming.

Vertebrate Paleontologist and Stable Isotope Geochemist

Figure 2. Summer field crew 2011 in Toadstool Geologic Park, from left to right: Ross Secord, Jason Moore (Dartmouth), myself, and Jason's students from Dartmouth College.

 

 

 

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (UN-L)

Office: 211 Bessey Hall

University E-mail: gboardman80@huskers.unl.edu

Personal Email: grant128@hotmail.com

 

 

About Me: I am currently a PhD Candidate in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UN-L.  I was born and raised in the Metro-New Orleans area. I do not have a “Southern” accent, but I can affect one if you ask nicely.  I do say “Y’all” on occasion, but that is about as Southern as I get.  I am married and I have three siblings.  I love the educational process, and hope to become a better teacher.

    I have been interested in vertebrate paleontology and collecting fossils ever since I was a very small child (and YES, there are fossils in Louisiana).  I also love to collect (and skin if fresh) and skeletonize any critter I can get my hands on.

 

Vita available upon request.

 

Education:

BS Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University (LSU) 2004

MS Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) 2009

 

Research Interests:

At this point in time I am specifically interested in Eocene-Oligocene mammalian paleoecology. My current research with Dr. Ross Secord focuses on interpreting and tracking changes in diet and habitat preference in several ungulate (i.e. hoofed mammal) groups from the latest Eocene into the early Oligocene (a period of global climate change associated with the onset of glaciation in Antarctica) of Nebraska using enamel stable isotopes, dental mesowear, dental microwear texture (done in Peter Ungar’s lab at the University of Arkansas), and hypsodonty index analyses.  If you have questions about my research feel free to drop me an email.

 

Figure 3. Results of isotopic analysis for selected Eocene-Oligocene ungulates from Nebraska.

 

Fieldwork:

For the last several years I have been collecting in latest Eocene-earliest Oligocene deposits in northwestern Nebraska and assisting Dr. Secord in collecting latest Paleocene-earliest Eocene fossils in the Bighorn Basin and Togwotee Pass areas of Wyoming. Prior to that I had years of experience collecting and excavating in Neogene deposits in the southeastern U.S. (Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Tennessee).

Figure 4. A Clarkforkian (latest Paleocene) outcrop in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming.

 

 

Lab Experience:

Prior to the large part of my experience in vertebrate paleontology I was a student worker in the Invertebrate Paleontology Lab at Louisiana State University. For over a year I worked toiling with washing samples from the Gulf of Mexico to collect foraminifera for study by such giants in the field as Dr. Barun Sen Gupta.  I gained appreciable experience in micropaleontology and its practices during this period.

 

Teaching and Outreach Interests:

For several years I have taught the Geology 103 (Historical Geology) Lab and on occasion the lab for Geology 101 (Physical Geology). When I was a Masters student and NSF GK-12 Fellow at ETSU I gained a lot of experience working with elementary school students and had a direct hand in building an outdoor classroom for the students, including a fossil dig pit [See Outdoor Classroom in News and Events].

 

Selected Recent Publications, Presentations, Abstracts:

 

Boardman, G.S. and R. Secord. [in review for Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology] Stable isotope paleoecology of White River ungulates during the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition in northwestern Nebraska.

 

Boardman, G.S. and R. Secord. 2012. A multi-proxy reappraisal of diet and habitat in Chadronian and Orellan ungulates from Nebraska based on stable isotopes, mesowear, and hypsodonty index. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32, Abstracts:64A.

 

Boardman, G.S., R. Secord, and W.E. Lukens. 2012. Minimal change in vegetation structure across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in Nebraska as indicated by stable isotopes in mammals. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 44 (6):6. [Link]

 

Lukens, W.E., D.O. Terry Jr., and G.S. Boardman. 2012. Early Oligocene paleosols and fluvial channels at Toadstool Geologic Park, northwest Nebraska: evidence for static climate through changing style of sedimentation. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 44 (6):6.

 

Boardman, G.S. and B.W. Schubert. 2011. Salamanders of the Gray Fossil Site, Pp. 15-17 in B.W. Schubert and J.I. Mead (eds.), Gray Fossil Site: 10 Years of Research, West Press.

 

Boardman, G.S. and R. Secord. 2011. Reconstructing the diets and microhabitats of four latest Eocene-earliest Oligocene perissodactyls (mammalia) based on stable isotopes, dental mesowear, and dental microwear texture. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31, Abstracts:73A.

 

Boardman, G.S. and B.W. Schubert. 2011. First Mio-Pliocene salamander fossil assemblage from the southern Appalachians. Palaeontologia Electronica 14:1-19. [PDF]

 

Boardman, G. and R. Secord. 2010.   Paleoenvironmental interpretation of three Chadronian(Late Eocene) mammalian faunas from the mid-continental U.S., based on body size distributions. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30, Abstracts:61A.  

 

Stout, J. and G. Boardman. 2010.  Morphology and systematics of dinosaur eggshells and the identification of problematic oospecies. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30, Abstracts:171A.

 

Boardman, G.S. 2008. First Lamine Camel (cf. Palaeolama) reported from the Tunica Hills of Louisiana. Current Research in the Pleistocene 25:163-165.

 

Schiebout, J.A., P.D. White, G.S. Boardman. 2008. Taphonomic Issues Relating to Concentrations of Pedogenic Nodules and Vertebrates in the Paleocene and Miocene Gulf Coastal Plain: Examples from Texas and Louisiana. Pg.17-30 in J. Sankey and S. Baszio (eds.), Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiology, Indiana University Press.