Dinosaurs, Feathers, and Birds In-Person
The field of Paleontology has long had many unanswered questions, with the evolution of birds and the origin of flight being two of the most prominent. Birds have long been thought to have evolved from reptiles, but which group of reptiles and how feathers and flight evolved have been the subject of much spirited debate. The last 30 years, due to new and better fossils and improved analytical techniques, have resulted in considerable progress in answering these interrelated questions. This talk will provide an overview of the past and current thinking on the answers to these questions.
About the speaker: Dan Krisher has been fascinated by fossils since he was 5 years old. Most kids are at that age, but for him, the interest never left. He completed his undergraduate studies in Geology at SUNY Geneseo and his graduate work in Paleontology at Indiana University, where he studied the Silurian (approximately 425 million years old) reefs of the midcontinent. He worked for many years at Wards Natural Science in Rochester, where he was the head of the Geology department. His main area of study has been and continues to be the fossil corals of New York State. He retired about 10 years ago, but his studies are ongoing. He also enjoys public outreach in the form of talks, displays, and leading field trips. He has been, for several years, the president of the Fossil Section of the Rochester Academy of Sciences and was a past vice-president of the Academy itself.
Free and open to the public.
Register below.
- Date:
- Monday, August 31, 2026
- Time:
- 4:00pm - 5:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Central - Kate Gleason Auditorium
- Library:
- Central Library
- Audience:
- Adults All Ages Families Seniors Teens
- Categories:
- Department - Science, History & Technology Lecture/Presentation Science & Nature STEM Summer Reading