Quaternary Sciences student Jeff Meyers

Jeffrey Ian Meyers
Graduate Student
Quaternary Sciences Program
Northern Arizona University
P.O. Box 5644
Flagstaff, AZ 86011

Master’s Thesis

An allometric investigation into Martes nobilis: Is M. nobilis a synonym of Martes americana? (Working title)

Bachelor’s Degree

BA, Anthropology, 2002, Arizona State University. My focus was Physical Paleoanthropology and Paleoecology under the guidance of Dr. Kaye Reed, Institute of Human Origins.

Present position

Laboratory technician, Laboratory of Quaternary Paleontology working with Pleistocene vertebrates and plants, Quaternary Sciences Program, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff: 2002 September – Present.

Applicable Work Experience

Three+ years (1991-1994), metrologist’s assistant, Milton Bradley Co., East Longmeadow, MA.

Research Interests

I have sundry interests; they include the ecomorphology and functional morphology of mammalian carnivores. These pursuits incorporate paleoautecology and paleosynecology, which focus on individual organisms and all biotic and abiotic elements that influence their environments, respectively. Geology and its applications to paleontology round out my professional attentions.

Other Interests

Hiking, backpacking, photography, mountain biking, martial arts, movie buff, activist working toward the preservation of the world’s Felidae populations and habitat.

Professional Societies

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Locality Information

The site of interest for my master’s thesis is the first natural trap cave to be excavated in the Great Basin. Styled, Snake Creek Burial Cave (SCBC), it is located in White Pine County, east central Nevada. Having yielded an estimated 30,000 bones, SCBC is relatively rich. This is especially true when compared to other paleontological cave sites in the Great Basin, particularly in mustelid diversity, with eight species represented. The entrance to SCBC is a vertical 17-m free-fall, situated at 1,731 m above sea level in the Devonian-age, largely limestone ridge of the Guilmette Formation.

Previous Research

I have completed an undergraduate independent study (ASM499) with Dr. Kaye Reed of the Institute of Human Origins in May 2001 at Arizona State University. The focus of this independent study was, An investigation into the additional cusps on the maxillary incisors of Smilodon fatalis: Implications for prey procurement. The work from this independent study was ultimately presented at the 2002 Southwest Paleontology Symposium held at the Mesa Southwest Museum in Mesa, Arizona.

Field Experience

• 2002 Field trip exploring caves in the karstic topography of the Grand Canyon – Parashant National Monument, including areas of the Shivwits Plateau Basin and the Grand Wash.
• 2000 Research Assistantship at EMAP, Southwest archaeological field experience. [Six-week field experience in surveying and excavation technique.]
• 1999 ASU & Institute of Human Origins (IHO) Paleoanthropological Field School. [Six-week field school in archaeological techniques, excavation, surveying, faunal analysis in Makapansgat, South Africa.]
• 1996 Glendale Community College Southwest Archaeology Field School.

Cerebral Evolution

During my trip to Makapansgat, South Africa in 1999 with the Institute of Human Origins, I had an epiphany and realized that my true passion was not with hominins, as I had studied for the pervious three years, but rather with the carnivores that existed during the same time period. It was then that I came to understand how I was the only individual present on the Makapan dig site that was hoping, indeed wishing, to unearth a specimen of Dinofelis, or Megantereon, or even Panthera, but not an Australopithecine.

This was not a simple stochastic shift in interest based on nothing more than a whim or fleeting fancy. Instead, it was the beginning of a calenture that had enough momentum to last a lifetime. I then knew what it was that I wanted to do, study paleontology, contribute to the body of knowledge that is science, and potentially most important of all, teach. If I can turn-on some future students to the study of science, not wholly the science into which I have chosen to delve, but onto any scientific endeavor, then I will have been successful.

Choosing to study at Northern Arizona University’s Quaternary Sciences Program (QSP) was an integral part of my cerebral evolution. The fact that the QSP has such a broad spectrum of disciplines contained within one program of study was an essential factor in my decision. Moreover, having the opportunity to study under the tutelage of Dr. Jim Mead sealed the deal and made the choice of picking a graduate home rather simple and unfettered by some of the usual complications accompanying such an important determination.