Professor George Stanley

George D. Stanley, Jr.,

Office: SC 302
Phone: (406) 243-5693

B.A. The University Tennessee
Ph.D. The University of Kansas

Research Interests * Field paleontology and collection management * Cambrian fossils of the Chengjiang Biota, China * Paleontology, and evolution * Paleoecology and taxonomy * Use of fossils in assessing plate tectonics and paleogeography * Coral reefs and reef evolution * Mesozoic fossils of the exotic terranes and the western Interior Seaway	Courses Taught * General Paleontology * Paleontological Techniques and Field Methods * History of Life * God, Darwin, and Dinosaurs (Creationism, Science & Evolution) * Mass Extinctions and Catastrophism * Paleobiology * Curation Techniques (for volunteers)
Stanley with a class on the Great Barrier Reef of Belize

Paleo field trip in Montana

Current Activities

My research and training is international and field oriented, dealing with paleobiology, paleoecology and paleogeography and with a focus on Mesozoic stratigraphy and marine Triassic fossils (vertebrates, invertebrates and plants). I am working with collaborators and students on recent and ongoing projects:

Educational research in Cretaceous rocks of northeastern Montana as part of an NSF project dealing with middle school teachers and students from rural Montana. Paleo Exploration Project (PEP) uses data from the field to develop a geo-referenced fossil database, produces maps and answer research questions. See the PEP web site: http://pep.explore-ed.com
NSF –Sponsored research on Triassic fossils (vertebrates and invertebrates) from Alaska and from the Vancouver Island, assessing paleogeography and tectonic ideas
NSF-sponsored research on Triassic marine fossils and their recovery from mass extinctions of early Mesozoic era
Stratigraphic geology and paleontology of northwestern Sonora, Mexico.
Geology and paleontology of Triassic rocks and fossils in Alaska (NSF-sponsored)
The origin and evolution of modern corals and their ancient history

I am director of The University of Montana Paleontology Center and I supervise the paleontology research collection. I also work with students on collection management and automation of collections and teach an intern course "Curation Techniques". I'm continuing collaboration with researchers at the Smithsonian Institution and colleagues in Europe. My taxonomic experience is with Mesozoic corals and sponges and Triassic reef-building fossils and I apply paleontological data to solve geological problems in both practical (field oriented) and theoretical situations. In my ongoing study of Cordilleran tectonics, I'm using fossils to assess the paleogeography of some displaced tectonostratigraphic terranes. As an adjunct professor in the UM Division of Biological Sciences, I interact with biology students. My current interest is the early evolution of Misozoic corals.

Some of my recent UM students were Sarah Schlichtholz (UM McNair Scholar) who completed a database for scleractinian corals; David Goodwin (M.S., 1999), on paleoecology and depositional setting of coral and sponge biostromes in northwestern Sonora, Mexico; Jeannette M. Yarnell (M.S. 2000), on fossils from a carbonate reef complex of Triassic age in the Yukon and a site near Denali National Park, Alaska; and Thomas Andres (Masters Degree in Teaching) a high school teacher, who is exploring Triassic corals from Nevada. Erik Katvala (M.S., 2004) Triassic conodonts in southeast Alaska and Andrew Caruthers (M.S. 2005) is investigating the paleogeography of Triassic silicified invertebrates in Alaska.

Erik Katvala standing on a Triassic reef in southeast Alaska

Sarah Schlichtholz doing field work in Denali National Park

Honors, Awards, and Activities

Smithsonian Institution Research Associate, U.S. National Museum of Natural History
Dennison Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions to the University of Montana (2001)
Fellow, Organization for Tropical Studies
Fulbright Research Scholar, Germany, Yugoslavia, and Turkey
University of Montana Exchange Fellow to Japan and Belize
University of Kansas, Geology Associates Advisory Board
Burlington Northern Award for outstanding scholarship and teaching at University of Montana
University of Montana Distinguished Scholar Award
Haworth Distinguished Alumni award (1998), University of Kansas
Exchange Fellow to Kumamoto University, Japan (1993-94)
Paleontological Society Distinguished Lecturer (1993-94)
International Geological Correlation Projects: Project 359, "Tethyan, Circum-Pacific and Marginal Gondwana Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic Correlation; Project 335, Biotic Recoveries from Mass Extinctions; Project 458 "Triassic/Jurassic boundary events: Mass Extinction, Global environmental change, and driving forces"
U.S.-AID, University of Montana Linkage Project to Belize, Central America Exchange Semester. Teaching and researching on the Barrier Reef of Belize, University College of Belize (1995)

Facilities

Facilities for paleontological research include a fully equipped preparation laboratory, including thin section and acid laboratory, digital cameras and photomicroscopes. Nationally recognized paleontology type and research reference collection currently being electronically automated.

Recent and ongoing research projects

Soft-bodied jelatinous fossils from the Chengjiang Biota, China.
Ancient Oceans
Mesozoic marine faunas and their recoveries from mass extinctions.
Triassic-Jurassic stratigraphy of fossils and strata in northwestern Sonora, Mexico
Reef evolution between Triassic-Jurassic time.
Faunas from displaced terranes of Cordilleran North America and Japan.
Conservation and ecology of the Belize Barrier Reef.
Early Mesozoic corals and their evolution.
Paleontology and stratigraphy of Mesozoic rocks in Oregon and Idaho.
Biostratigraphic and paleontolgic studies at Kuiu Island, Southeast Alaska.
Mesozoic silicified faunas from terranes in Alaska.

Books and Monographs Published

The History and Sedimentology of Reef Systems, 2001 Kluwer Academic/Plenum, N.Y., 458 p.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. and Gonzalez-Leon. 1996. Paleogeographic and tectonic implications of Triassic fossils and strata from the Antimonio Formation, northwestern Sonora. [Chapter contribution In] Jacques-Ayala, C., Gonzalez-Leon, C., and Roldan-Quintana (eds.) Studies on the Mesozoic of Sonora and Adjacent Areas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 301.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. (editor). 1996. Paleobiology and Biology of Corals. Paleontological Society Papers, v. 1, 296 p.
Stanley, G. D., Jr., Gonzalez-Leon, C., Sandy, M. R., Senowbari- Daryan, B., Doyle, P., Tamura, M., and Erwin, D. H. 1994. Upper Triassic Invertebrates from the Antimonio Formation, Sonora, Mexico., Paleontological Society Memoir 36, 33pp.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. (editor) 1994. Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Triassic to Jurassic Rocks in the Peruvian Andes. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, Band 233, 208pp. + 46 pls.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. 1992. Tropical reef ecosystems [chapter contribution]. W. A. Nierenberg (ed.), Encyclopedia of Earth System Science, v. 4, p. 375-388. New York, Academic Press.
Kotaka, T., Dickins, J. M., McKinzie, K. G., Mori, K., Ogasawara, K. and Stanley, G. D., Jr. (eds.) 1991. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Shallow Tethys 3, Saito Ho-on Kai Special Publication no. 3, 550 p.

Some Selected Published Papers

Stanley, G. D., Jr. 2007. Ocean acidification and scleractinian corals. Science 24 Aug. 2007, v. 317, p. 1032-1033
Stanley, G. D., Jr. 2006. Photosymbiosis and the evolution of modern coral reefs. Science v. 312, p. 857-858.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. 2005. Coral microatolls from the Triassic of Nevada: oldest scleractinian examples. Coral Reefs v. 24, no. 2, p. 247.
Yancey, T., Stanley, G. D., Jr., Piller, W. and Woods, M., 2005, Biogeography of the Late Triassic wallowaconchid megalodontoid bivalves. Lethaia v. 38, p.1-16.
Waller, T. R. and Stanley, G.D., Jr. 2005. Middle Triassic pteriomorphian Bivalvia (Mollusca) from the New Pass Range, west-central Nevada: systematics, biostratigraphy, paleoecology and paleobiogeography. Paleontological Society Memoir 61, 64 p.
Fryer, G. and Stanley, G.D., Jr. 2004. A Silurian porpitoid hydrozoan from Cumbria, England and a note on porpitoid relationships. Palaeontology, v. 47, no. 5, pp. 1109-1120.
Carter, J.G. and Stanley, G. D., Jr. 2004. Late Triassic gastrochaenid and lithophaginid borings (Mollusca: Bivalvia) from Nevada (USA) and Austria. Journal of Paleontology, v. 78, no. 1, pp. 230-234.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. 2003. The evolution of modern corals and their early history. Earth Science Reviews, v. 60, p. 195-225.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. 2002. Mojsisovics on Triassic reefs of the Dolomites, Coral Reefs, v. 21, p. 229-230.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. and D.G. Fautin. 2001. The Origin of Modern Corals. Science, v. 291, p. 1913-1914.
C.M. Gonzáles-León and G.D. Stanley, Jr. 2000. Ammonoid Discoveries in the Antimonio Formation, Sonora, Mexico: New Constraints on the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 13, p. 491-497.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. and Senowbari Dargan, B. 1999. Upper Triassic reef fauna from the Quesnel terrane, central British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Paleontology, V. 73, no. 5. p. 787-802
Roniewicz, Ewa and Stanley, G.D., Jr. 1998. Middle Triassic Cnidarians from the New Pass Range, central Nevada. Journal of Paleontology, v. 77, no. 2, p. 246-256.
Senowbari-Daryan, Baba and Stanley, G.D., Jr. 1998. Neoguadalupia oregonensis new species: Reappearance of a Permian sponge genus in the Upper Triassic Wallowa terrane, Oregon. Journal of Paleontology, v. 72, no. 2, p. 221-224.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. 1997. Chapter contribution to the Yearbook of Science and Technology, Year 1998. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. 1997. Evolution of Reefs of the Mesozoic. Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, Panama City, Panama, v. 2, p. 1657-1662.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. 1996. Confessions of a displaced reefer. Palaios, v. 11, no. 1, p. 1-2.
Stanley, G. D., Jr and Swart, P. K. 1995. Evolution of the coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis during the Triassic: a geochemical approach. Paleobiology v. 21, p. 179-199.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. 1994. Late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic reef- building organisms and paleogeography: the Tethyan-North American connection. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg v. 172, p. 69- 75 (published in Germany).
Stanley, G.D., Jr. and Beauvais, L. 1994. Corals from an Early Jurassic coral reef in British Columbia: refuge on an oceanic island reef. Lethaia v. 27, no. 1, p. 35-47 (published in Sweden).
Stanley, G. D., Jr. 1994. Upper Triassic spongiomorph and coral association dredged off the north western Australian shelf. AGSO Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics v. 15, no. 1, p. 127-133 (published in Australia).
Stanley, G. D., Jr. and McRoberts, C. A. 1993. A coral reef in the Telkwa Range, British Columbia: the earliest Jurassic example. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences v. 30, p. 819-831 (published in Canada).
Sandy, M. R. and Stanley, G. D., Jr. 1993. Late Triassic brachiopods from the Luning Formation, Nevada, and their palaeobiogeographical significance. Palaeontology v. 36, pt. 2, p. 439-480 (published in Great Britain).
Senowbari-Daryan, B. and Stanley, G. D., Jr. 1992. Late Triassic thalamid sponges from Nevada. Journal of Paleontology v. 66, no. 2, p. 183-193.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. and Vallier, T. L. 1992. "Galapagos Islands: a Holocene analogue to the Wallowa accreted terrane, western North America". Geology v. 20, no. 7, p. 577-672.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. 1991. Marine faunal similarities between the Tethys and western North America: tectonic and pantropical models. Saito Ho-on Kai Special Publication no. 3, (Proceedings of Shallow Tethys 3, Sendai, Japan, 1990), p. 51-52 (published in Japan).
Stanley, G. D., Jr. and Beauvais, L. 1990. Middle Jurassic corals from the Wallowa terrane, west-central Idaho. Journal of Paleontology v. 64, no. 3, p. 352-362.
Stanley, G. D., Jr. and Yancey, T. E. 1990. Paleogeography of the ancient Pacific. Science v. 249, p. 680-681.
Stanley, G.D., Jr. 1989. The Fate of Gondwana: Gondwana and the Tethys. Science, v. 244, p. 1597-1598.

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