Fresno State helps preserve fossils with $1M grants

Dr. Fraka Harmsen

By Shirley Melikian Armbruster and April Schulthies
University Communications

Students and faculty have been working alongside California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) officials for the last two years to ensure that any ancient plants and animals that might be buried in the path of the Highway 180 extensions will be preserved.

As Caltrans currently extends Highway 180 west of Chestnut Avenue, it has to balance the transportation needs of human population and the state and federal laws that require any large construction project reduce impacts on fossils.

To help preserve any fossils in that area, as well as the future Highway 180 west extension and a project in the Hayward area, Caltrans is awarding Fresno State $1 million in grants to prepare and implement plans to ensure that during the construction process, a representative sample of important fossil remains would be preserved for future study.

“We study the rock formations to see if they are paleontologically significant,” said Dr. Fraka Harmsen, chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and head of the Fresno State team for the project. If fossils are discovered they are sent to the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley.

During previous excavations, fossils collected from the formations include Colombian mammoth fossils, horses, camels, Llamas, and three types of ground sloths. The saber tooth cat, the state fossil, has also been found, as well as fossils of the simitar cat.

The mammoths once weighed more than 10,000 pounds, and stood 12 to 14 feet high at the shoulder.

“The Fossils give us local information about past environments and climates, and provide information on the evolution of plants and animals that may be extinct,” said Harmsen.

Joining Harmsen in the work are Fresno State lecturer Dr. Robert Dundas, a paleontologist with experience in preserving fossils, and six undergraduate and graduate students.

Starting in May 2002, the Fresno State team conducted a paleontological study of the project areas and then looked at existing records of fossils to ascertain which fossil specimens were already on file. This gave them an idea of which fossils had already been found in California so that they could be certain to preserve new fossils finds during construction of the highways.

Saving the fossils requires careful planning. Caltrans provides Fresno State with copies of detailed maps, aerial photographs and engineering grading plans. The Fresno State team trains Caltrans employees in the importance of fossil preservation and the procedures to be used and monitors earth moving in all affected areas.

The Caltrans grants are among several that Harmsen and Fresno State students are working under, including a $300,000 grant from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a $300,000 cash and equipment grant from the USDA.

Harmsen said winning grants helps support graduate students financially, allows them to conduct research projects and provides mentoring opportunities.

Dr. Kin-Ping Wong, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said it is important to involve students in hands -on learning.

“We involve our students in the actual work and in turn they contribute to the community,” said Wong. “This is education at its best. Students really learn and the community benefits.”