Welcome to the Shuler Museum
The Shuler Museum of Paleontology in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences houses research and teaching collections of fossil vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. The museum supports the preparation, curation and loan of fossils, and fosters paleontological research at SMU by undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars. Current research emphasis is on fossil vertebrates and plants, with particular focus on stratigraphic, taphonomic, and paleoenvironmental applications of the collections. The museum facilitates and participates in educational outreach at all levels from preschool to lifelong learners, and it supplies exhibit specimens to public museums, including the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
Shuler Museum facilities include well-equipped fossil preparation laboratories and research laboratories with digital, optical, and epifluorescence microscopes. The SMU Digital Earth Sciences Laboratory is equipped for structured light 3D scanning, CT data processing, and computer analysis of spatial data. Students also have access to other facilities of the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, which include two isotope ratio mass spectrometers for stable isotope geochemistry, an X-ray diffractometer, an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, a scanning electron microscope, and other analytical instruments. The museum offers work-study and hands-on experience to SMU students at all levels.
Follow the “What’s Happening” link on the left to find out the latest information about field work, recent publications, and meetings. NEWLY UPDATED FOR MAY 2016!
The 75th anniversary meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) was held in Dallas this year, 14-17 October. Check out these photos of participants and the schedule from the first SVP meeting held in Dallas, in 1973. Let us know if you recongize any of the unidentified people!