Augustana’s Impact on Science in Antarctica
James W Collinson ‘60
School of Earth Sciences & Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University
Troy L. Péwé ’40 was invited by the USGS to participate in the
International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) to investigate pattern ground in the
McMurdo Sound Region. He named an important lake in the Dry Valleys after his
Augustana Professor, Fritiof M. Frxyell ‘22. At the time Péwé taught at the
University of Alaska and later at Arizona State University.
In 1969 I began working in the central Transantarctic Mountains with
vertebrate paleontologists on Permian-Triassic river deposits. In 1977-78 Bill
Hammer, then a graduate student at Wayne State, and I worked together for the
first time. We joined together again in 1981-82, his first year as a faculty member
at Augustana. In 1985-86 John Isbell ’81, a graduate student at Ohio State
University, was part of my field party. Isbell has since had a distinguished career
in Antarctic and Gondwana geology at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
On the same expedition Hammer was accompanied by two Augustana field
assistants, Jeff Tamplin ‘86 and Bill Ryan ‘89. In 1991-92 Hammer, assisted by
Steve Krippner ‘90, excavated the first dinosaur fossils from Antarctica in
Jurassic strata on Mount Kirkpatrick. In 1995 Hammer continued collecting
Triassic fossils with the help of Bill Hickerson ‘88, Jason McKirhan ‘96, and Rob
Andress ‘95. In 2003 Nate Smith ‘02 accompanied Hammer on an expedition to
collect more Jurassic dinosaurs. In 2010-11 Smith, then a graduate student at the
University of Chicago, returned to Antarctica with Hammer to collect more
dinosaurs, and he plans to continue doing research on Antarctic vertebrate fossils.
Bill Ryan, Bill Hickerson, and Josh Mathews have worked as preparators
for Hammer’s projects at Augustana. Brian Gerkin ‘02, Rich Slaughter ‘95, Nate
Smith ’02, Jake Crandall ‘12, and Spencer Hellert ‘12 have carried out senior
research projects on Antarctic fossils and made presentations at North-Central
GSA meetings.
Augustana alumni and faculty have published 136 scientific papers to date
on Antarctic research. Two Antarctic species of vertebrate fossils and two genera
of Antarctic plant fossils have been named after them. Named geographic features
are Lake Fryxell, Mount Péwé, Lake Péwé, Collinson Ridge, Mount Isbell,
Hammer Col, and Mount Augustana.
Lake Fryxell at base of Canada Glacier
Mount Augustana in upper right