Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Lapidary Auction - June 7, Boone County Fairgrounds

Lapidary Auction, Saturday, June 7 - Boone County Fairgrounds - Belvidere, IL - at 9:00 am.  Machines, crystals, minerals, rough rock, shells, fossils and miscellaneous, e.g, gem trees, mountings...  helld by Curry Auctioneers. Questions? 815-871-9212

The Role of Amateur Paleontologists in Scientific Inquiry

A thoughtful, essay on the role of amateur paleontologists have played in both the past, as well as potentially in the future.

Written for Palaeo-Electronica, by a member and leader in ESCNOI, John Catalini.

Canadian Paleo Artist - Csotonyi

Via the Verge:

... These illustrations aren't static — given the fast pace of scientific discovery, Csotonyi often has to update pieces to coincide with new revelations. The relatively new concept of feathered dinosaurs, in particular, has changed the way he renders these prehistoric giants. "I’ve had to return to several of my previous illustrations to update them as new information has become available based on increasingly informative fossil finds, and also because as young as my career is, I have learned to correct mistakes that I made earlier on," he explains....

Summer classes for kids

The Center for the Gifted is offering summer classes on fossils, and minerals and archaeology for preK to 8th grade. http://www.centerforgifted.org/ 

Miner Safety Training - June 5 at College of Dupage

John McArdle of ZRS (Zoological Research Services) is approved to offer Miner Safety Certification Training and issue certificates and will be teaching the course on June 5 at 7:00 pm.

The meeting room will be announced soon.

The cost will be $10 for each ESCONI Member payable at the door to John McArdle.

 

Contact John Good at 630-303-2352 for reservations or e-mail at [email protected].

Miner safety training helps to ensure successful and safe collecting. Some quarries require this training before allowing us to collect on their propery. 

It is highly recommended that members get certified in Miner Safety training - this certificate is especially important if you want to collect fossils at quarries like Larson Quarry or the Indiana trip.

 

This Weekend! 5/24 & 5/25 - Chicagoland Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show!

On Memorial Day weekend, nationally-known dealers, demonstrations,  exhibits, lapidary arts, jewelry exhibits, faceting, cabochon cutting, polishing gemstones, silversmithing, beading, wire wrapping, prospecting, geode splitting, a silent auction, childrens' rock area - and jewelry repair - will all be available!

The 38^th Chicagoland Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show is hosted by the Chicagoland Gem and Mineral Association (CGMA). http://cgma.squarespace.com/

 

Saturday, May 24, 2014 10am - 6pm
Sunday, May 25, 2014 10am - 5pm

Adults - $5.00
Seniors- $3.00
Students (13-17) - $3.00
Children (Under 13) Free

FREE PARKING
INDOORS - AIR CONDITIONED - FOOD AVAILABLE 
Camping Available - Call (630) 377-0197

Why Prevent Extinction? May 30 & 31, Notebaert Nature Museum

Why Prevent Extinction?

Join us at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on Friday, May 30, Saturday May 31, and Sunday June 1 to explore this question through a weekend conference.  Keynote address on May 30 by the ever popular May Berenbaum. The Conference, May 31, also features the insights of Curt Meine, Joel Brown, Jeffery Lockwood, and Doug Taron. 

May Berenbaum will give the keynote address for the “Why Prevent Extinction Conference” on Friday, May 30.  Join us at 5:30 p.m. for a wine and cheese, beer and pretzel reception, and at 6:30 p.m. for the talk.  Dr. Berenbaum has been called the Joan Rivers of Entomology and the Neil deGrasse Tyson of the microworld.  Her address is sure to both enlighten and amuse. Curt Meine is a philosopher and ethicist with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature.  At the Why Prevent Extinction? conference on May 31,  Dr. Meine will address the “Loss of the Unknowns,” extinctions of species that most people never see or even hear about.  If something you’ve never heard about is now gone from your life, is your life diminished? 

 

Joel Brown is a perpetual favorite wherever he presents.  For the Why Prevent Extinction? conference, we have asked Dr. Brown to be the Black Hat—he'll represent the viewpoint of who cares about extinction?  As an evolutionary ecologist and mathematician, Joel can show us how to find wonder in the modern phenomenon of accelerated extinction, but at what cost to us? Did you know that the U.S. once experienced plagues of locust like those described in the Bible?  Though plague locusts still exist in many parts of the world, the American species is extinct.  Meet the scientist who solved the mystery of where these locust came from and where they went.  Dr. Jeffery Lockwood is an entomologist, historian, and award winning author who has braved mountain glaciers to bring you stories of extinction.

 

Doug Taron is renowned for his laboratory propagation of endangered species of butterflies.  But what does it take to return them to the wild?  Join us at the Why Prevent Extinction? on May 31  to learn about the challenges imposed by habitat, gene-hijacking bacteria and hibernation on successful butterfly reintroductions.

 

Do you think it is a good idea to prevent extinction?  Why or why not?  Feel free to share your thoughts at #PreventExtinction.

 

For more details about the conference and to register for this important program, go to www.naturemuseum.org/wpe

 

ESCONI Field Trip: Mazon Creek This Weekend

ESCONI Field Trip to Mazon Creek

Meet at 8:00 A.M. Saturday at the BP Amoco in Coal City. No Age Limit.  Hard Hats not required. 

Take I-55 to Exit 236 (Coal City).  Take a right onto Highway 113 (Division Street).  Go west to Broadway Street and Division in Coal City.

We will be collecting Mazon Creek concretions from an old spoil pile on private property.  Hard hats are not required.  Boots are recommended.  An Estwing rock hammer is the best tool.  A small shovel or pick is helpful.  Knee pads, backpacks, fanny packs, extra clothes (you will get wet and muddy) are also a plus.  Bring a bucket for the fossils. Also bring insect repellant.

Contact John Good at 630-303-2352 for reservations or e-mail at [email protected]. 

Call All Boyscouts! Old and Young - Need Your Help!

Can you help promote the earth sciences at the Boyscouts STEM-O-Rama for a few hours next Saturday, May 17th ??

It will be held at the Kane County Fairgrounds from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm showcasing over 100 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math exhibits. 

ESCONI has an inside booth (Robertson Hall - Booth 506) with one table and 4 chairs and we will be giving out flyers, displaying fossils, selling books to the scouts.

If you can work an hour or so, please email, Donald Cronauer dccronauer at att dot net

Mazon Creek Fossils Will Be Sold at General Meeting

5 flats of opened but uncleaned fossils along with 7 bags of unopened concretions (each bag would fill a small flat) will be available for sale at the General Meeting this Friday.

New Mineral Found In Australia

Via Science News:

The new mineral is named putnisite after Drs Christine and Andrew Putnis from the University of Münster, Germany, for their outstanding contributions to mineralogy.

Putnisite occurs as isolated pseudocubic crystals, up to 0.5 mm in diameter, and is associated with quartz and a near amorphous Cr silicate.

It is translucent, with a pink streak and vitreous lustre. It is brittle and shows one excellent and two good cleavages parallel to {100}, {010} and {001}.

“What defines a mineral is its chemistry and crystallography. By x-raying a single crystal of mineral you are able to determine its crystal structure and this, in conjunction with chemical analysis, tells you everything you need to know about the mineral,” explained Dr Elliott, who, along with colleagues, described putnisite in the Mineralogical Magazine.

Good Radio Interview About TRex at Smithsonian

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/04/22/montana-t-rex-smithsonian

Tom Ashbrook interviews a number of people about the new Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Smithsonian and talks about its home - pre-historic Montana – and the age when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

John Horner, curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies. Professor at Montana State University. (@dinodetective)

Paul Sereno, paleontologist and professor at the University of Chicago. Explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society.

Mark Tarner, amateur paleontologist. President of the South Bend Chocolate Company.

St. Paul Trip Cancelled for May 2, 2014

The St. Paul trip for May 2 has been canceled. The crushers have arrived and the quarry will be unavailable for months.