2019 June - Oklahoma Teens Head to Panhandle for Jurassic Adventure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oklahoma Teens Head to Panhandle for Jurassic Adventure KENTON (JUNE 6, 2019) – Residents at two Oklahoma group homes are getting the opportunity this summer to see where dinosaurs once roamed in the state Six boys from the Cedar Canyon program near Weatherford and six girls from the Mustang Treatment Center will make the trek to the Panhandle to visit a paleontological site near Black Mesa in Cimarron County The facilities, which are under contract with the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) to provide educational and other programs for justiceinvolved teens in a group home setting, will make the trip separately They each will spend a couple days looking for fossils Their guide is Anne Weil, an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa This is the second year she is instructing the youth Last year, only boys from Cedar Canyon made the trip “It was a ton of fun,” she said of last year’s outing “We found several fossils in the site and excavated part of a giant neck vertebrae Then we went on a hike and turned over rocks and found a ton of horned toads and scorpions and all kinds of little things like that We learned some things about the rocks, too.” Remains of animals that lived more than 150 million years ago in the late Jurassic Period in the Black Mesa area are in a layer of rock known as the Morrison Formation In Oklahoma, the formation’s dinosaur fossils were first discovered by road builders in the 1920’s and excavated by Works Progress Administration teams hired to make paleontological excavations until the start of World War II “This is an outstanding and excellent opportunity for these young people to observe and explore a paleontological site,” said OJA Executive Director Steven Buck “They will also be able to see the wonders of nature in a part of our state that is outside their view of the world so far in their lives, and hopefully realize that their future potential is unlimited, just like the wide-open vista of the Panhandle I appreciate Cedar Canyon and Mustang Treatment Center for agreeing to allow their residents to experience this excursion, and certainly the willingness of Anne Weil and the Sam Noble Museum to help with this educational opportunity.” Weil prepared the teens for the Black Mesa excursion by going to the group homes to explain which dinosaurs and prehistoric reptiles were in various areas of present-day Oklahoma and the process used to discover and collect their remains She also met them at the Sam Noble Museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman where they could see examples of the dinosaurs found in the Black Mesa area and the region’s ecosystem They also were shown how fossils are cleaned and prepared for paleontological research and perhaps someday for display The Whitten-Newman Foundation, which owns the property where the site is, works with the Sam Noble Museum on providing science education experiences for Oklahoma students, with the fossils collected sent to the museum “We’re excited to be able to provide opportunities to experience hands-on science for those who may not have many opportunities, and what better way than to actually dig for Oklahoma dinosaurs like Saurophaganax and Apatosaurus at Black Mesa,” said Reggie Whitten, the foundation’s co-founder The Whitten-Newman Foundation also provides significant logistical support for excavations “We’re going to see a paleontological site that is in the middle of being excavated,” Weil said “It is a real scientific site so the kids are going to have an opportunity to participate in fossil collection They’re going to be participating in a real research project, both in excavating dinosaurs … (and) recovering some of the smaller, interesting parts of the fauna We even have tiny little fossil shrimp so they’re going to be able to see an entire Jurassic ecosystem.” She also will take the teens exploring in the Black Mesa area “We are going to get to see some of the local ecosystem as well - the short-grass prairie that’s out there and then in some of the canyons along the Cimarron River and surrounding streams, Weil said “So, we’ll get to see some of the living flora and fauna of Oklahoma in that region, and we’re going to see some interesting geographic sites as well.” Weil said she enjoys instructing teens, who ask intriguing questions spawned in part by their having seen the film “Jurassic Park” and related movies “Just in general, I think kids ask better questions than adults do,” she said “They’re pretty uninhibited They often are synthesizing from kind of pop culture so I get a lot of strange questions about Tyrannosaurus in ‘Jurassic Park,’ and those are great ways to sort of … jump off into serious discussion of the actual animals.” Weil said the youths’ interest in dinosaurs often feed their curiosity, which could pique them to delve into other scopes of learning “Paleontology is a great way to start thinking about any of the sciences,” she said “The animals themselves are very charismatic, you know, and everybody wants to see the giant carnivores But when you start really handling the bones, and saying, ‘What is this part? How is this animal put together?’ - that’s going to lead you into the anatomical sciences For instance, someone could become a pre-med (student) and go to medical school along that route If you’re looking at it and going, ‘Wow, what are these shrimp doing in a site with these dinosaurs, and where are the baby dinosaurs? They should be here, and why are there so many turtles?’ They are sort of thinking like an ecologist, and it could lead into wildlife management or a career like that “There are a lot of careers in the sciences where you can start with paleontology and start asking questions that take you into something entirely different but no less fascinating.” ### Residents from the Cedar Canyon program near Weatherford dig for fossils this week at a paleontological site near Black Mesa in the Oklahoma Panhandle A Mustang Treatment Center resident looks at a large bone during last month's tour of fossils stored at the Sam Noble Museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman before their first trip to explore a paleontological site near Black Mesa in the Oklahoma Panhandle For additional information, contact: Michael McNutt/OJA Communications Director (405) 530-2860 (405) 249-6072 michael.mcnutt@oja.ok.gov Paula Christiansen/ OJA Public Information Officer (405) 530-2814 paula.christiansen@oja.ok.gov #ThisIsWhy Stay Connected with Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs: ... education experiences for Oklahoma students, with the fossils collected sent to the museum “We’re excited to be able to provide opportunities to experience hands-on science for those who may not... going to be able to see an entire Jurassic ecosystem.” She also will take the teens exploring in the Black Mesa area “We are going to get to see some of the local ecosystem as well - the short-grass... fossils stored at the Sam Noble Museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman before their first trip to explore a paleontological site near Black Mesa in the Oklahoma Panhandle For additional