It’s the summer of dinosaurs, and the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling invites patrons to learn all about the amazing prehistoric creatures in an eight-week series.
The new dinosaur series will feature paleontologists and students of paleontology from Pittsburgh’s venerable Carnegie Museum of Natural History, discussing topics ranging from defining what dinosaurs actually were, to how they are related to modern birds and reptiles, to how and why they became extinct. The series will conclude with a behind-the-scenes field trip guided by the museum’s principal dinosaur researcher himself, Dr. Matthew Lamanna.
For inquiries and to register for the series, call the library at 304-232-0244, visit www.ohiocountylibrary.org, send us an email, or visit the Library’s Reference Desk.
Class 1: Thursday, July 21 — 7PM – What is a Dinosaur?
A fun, interactive introduction into what is and isn’t a dinosaur. Many people exclude things like birds from their definition of a dinosaur, but include things like crocodiles, turtles, pterosaurs, and sometimes even mammoths. This lecture would clarify misunderstandings of what makes something a dinosaur, like the fact that something doesn’t have to be extinct to be a dinosaur but they do need their legs to be positioned beneath their bodies.
Instructor: Lindsay Kastroll is a paleontology student and museum volunteer with a special interest in dinosaurs. Following her recent graduation from California University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Biology and Geology, she will be attending a master’s program in Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta starting in Fall 2022 where she will complete research on ornithischian dinosaurs: think things like Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Stegosaurus. She got her start volunteering with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History writing “Mesozoic Monthly,” a series of deep dives on prehistoric creatures for the museum blog.
