Tentative Schedule of Events
Furnace Creek Visitor Center
Death Valley, CA
November 15-17, 2013
Thursday, November 14th
Early Check in: Furnace Creek Visitor Center Auditorium
5:00 - 6:30 pm
(Poster Presenters can hang their posters at this time)
th
Friday, November 15
8:00 - 9:00 am
Registration Table Open: Furnace Creek Visitor Center Auditorium
Auditorium
9:00 - 9:20 am
Welcome from: Kathy Billings Death Valley National Park Superintendent and
David Blacker Death Valley Natural History Association Executive Director
9:20 - 9:45 am
Opening Speaker: Barbara Durham,
Durham Timbisha Shoshone Tribe
9:45 - 10:15 am
Stephen M. Rowland - How Old is the Mojave Desert and How Did It Evolve?
10:15 - 10:45 am
Kenneth E. Lengner - Late Pleistocene and Holocene Natural Environments:
Death Valley Region (21,000 Years Ago to Present)
-Morning Break-
10:45 - 11:10 am
11:10 - 11: 30 am
Jeffrey Knott - A Review of Lake Manly
11:30 - 12:00 am
Clinton Epps - Fifty Years After Welles and Welles:
Desert Bighorn Sheep in Death Valley National Park
12:00 - 1:30 pm
-Lunch Break-
1:30 – 2:00 pm
Skip Newhall - Summer Temperatures in Death Valley
2:00 - 2:20 pm
Jeffrey S. Pigati - Response of Desert Wetlands to Holocene Climate Change in the Mojave
Desert
2:20 – 2:40 pm
Nick Eyles, PhD - Debris Lobes Inside Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley, California:
Analog for Mars Craters?
2:40 - 3:05 pm
-Afternoon Break-
3:05 - 3:25 pm
L. Paul Knauth - Death Valley's Oldest Cave (~750 MA): Lonely Survivor of Ancient Climate
Changes and Relentless Tectonic Mayhem
3:25 - 3:45 pm
Kish LaPierre, MA, RPA - Are Numic Scratched Rock Drawings Women's Work?
3:45 - 5:00 pm
Poster Session:
Session Poster Presenters available to answer questions at this time
-Dinner on Your Own-
1st Death Valley Natural History Conference - Tentative Schedule of Events - November 15-17, 2013
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Saturday, November 16th
7:30 - 8:00 am
Registration Table Open: Furnace Creek Visitor Center Auditorium
Auditorium
8:00 - 8:15 am
Field Trip Briefing
8:15 - 8:35 am
Eugene Smith - Volcanic Geology of the Greenwater Range, Death Valley, California
8:35 - 9:05 am
Jim P. Calzia - Geologic Problems in the Greenwater Range: Magmatic Rocks Are Misbehaving
9:05 - 9:25 am
Dr. Michael F. Roberts - Heat shock proteins (HSP) as Adaptations to Stress in Death Valley Algae
and Plants
9:25 - 9:55 am
James W. Cornett - Population Dynamics of the Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia):
Nineteen-Year Analysis, Lee Flat, Death Valley National Park
9:55 - 10:20 am
-Morning Break-
10:20- 10:50 am
Benjamin Gordon - Micro-climate Roost Selection of Bats in Death Valley, California
10:50 - 11:20 am
Elaine K. Chow - Surveys of Abundance of Endangered Eureka Valley Evening-primrose
and Invasive Russian Thistle Populations
11:20 - 11:50 am
Amy Treonis - Biodiversity Patterns for Microscopic Life in the Soils of Death Valley National Park
11:50 - 1:15 pm
-Lunch Break-
1:15 - 1:45 pm
Jane Cipra - Rare and Endangered Plant Species Population Declines at Eureka Dunes,
Death Valley National Park
1:45 - 2:15 pm
Hester L. Bell - Conservation of the Eureka Valley Dune Grass, Swallenia alexandrae
2:15 - 2:45 pm
Patricia Brown,
Brown PhD - Abandoned Mines in Death Valley: Preserving History and
Protecting Wildlife
2:45 – 3:10 pm
-Afternoon Break-
3:10 - 3:30 pm
Lidya Tarhan - Seafloor Colonization in the Earliest Paleozoic:
Evidence From the Cambrian of Death Valley
3:30 - 4:00 pm
Darrel S. Cowan - Searching For Microearthquakes Beneath Death Valley
4:00 - 4:30 pm
Dr. Ralph D. Lorenz - Meteorological Conditions at Racetrack Playa:
What Makes the Rocks Move?
5:00 pm
Closing Reception: Furnace Creek Ranch Date Grove
5:30 pm
-Dinner Served-
1st Death Valley Natural History Conference - Tentative Schedule of Events - November 15-17, 2013
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Sunday, November 17th
Field trip options:
Geology of the Greenwater Range: The Dawn of Death Valley
with Jim Calzia, Tapani Rämö, Robert Jachens, Eugene Smith and Jeffrey Knott
Description:
Much has been written about the age and formation of Death Valley, but—that is one if not
the last chapter in the geology of this fascinating area. Igneous and sedimentary rocks in
the Greenwater Range, one mountain range east of Death Valley, tell an earlier story that
overlaps with the formation of Death Valley proper. This early story will be told by
scientists who have studied these rocks for many years, and continue to do so. Please join
us for their latest interpretation(s) on the geology of the Greenwater Range and the early
history (ca. 10-0Ma) of Death Valley. Anticipated to be full day.
Mammal
ammal and Bird Tracks Within Pliocene Deposits Near Cow Creek Junction,
Death Valley National Park
with Torrey Nyborg, PhD, Dept. of Earth and Biological Sciences Loma Linda University
Description:
Death Valley has some spectacular lacustrine deposits preserving Cenozoic mammal and
bird tracks. Near the Cow Creek Junction just west of the Visitor Center are preserved
fossil mammal and bird tracks within questionable Pliocene deposits at the foot of the
Funeral Mountains. This 3-4 hour hike will highlight the numerous mammal and bird
tracks. This is a rare opportunity to see some in-situ tracks. We will park along the main
road and hike a fairly flat wash up to the deposits. The trip leader will be Torrey Nyborg of
Loma Linda University. Torrey studied the mammal and bird tracks within the Copper
Canyon Formation which is relatively similar to the tracks at Cow Creek. Highlights for
this trip will be the fossil mammal and bird tracks as well as associated sedimentary
deposits such as ripples and mudcracks.
8:00 am
All registered field trip participants meet up with their group, out front of the Furnace
Field--trip
Creek Visitor Center. Please be prepared to carpool to the meeting location. Field
attendees will need to pack their own bagged lunch,
l unch, have plenty of water, sunscreen,
and appropriate hiking clothing, hat, and shoes.
1st Death Valley Natural History Conference - Tentative Schedule of Events - November 15-17, 2013
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Poster Presenters:
Dr. Gunther Kletetschka
Dinesh Lal
Sliding Stones of Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, USA: The Role of Fluctuating Water
Levels in Track Geometry
Feeding Behavior of Nematodes from Death Valley Soils
Dr. Ralph D. Lorenz
Rock Migration at Racetrack Playa : A Geological Process in Action
James Norris
Extreme Weather Events and the Sliding Stones of Racetrack Playa
Ian Norton
Torrey Nyborg
Sara ScolesScoles-Sciulla
Dr. Reinhold Steinacker
The Panamint Detachment and Other Unique Faults in Death Valley, California
Age, Stratigraphy, Depositoinal Environment and Vetibrate Ichnology of the MiocenePliocene Copper Canyon Formation, Death Valley, CA
Ecology of Two Contrasting Endangered Endemic Dune Plants at Death Valley
National Park
High Resolution Measurements With a Mobile Micro Weather Station Equipment in
Death Valley
The 1 st Death Valley Natural
Natural History Conference is co
co-hosted by:
b y:
Rio Tinto is a proud sponsor
s ponsor of this event.
Should you have any questions about this itinerary please be in contact with the Death Valley Natural History Association
P.O. Box 188, Death Valley, CA 92328
Ph: 775-537-0787 ext 208, Toll Free: 800-478-8564, Fax: 760-786-2146
Email: [email protected]
Website: dvnha.org
1st Death Valley Natural History Conference - Tentative Schedule of Events - November 15-17, 2013
Last Updated: 8/27/2013 GW
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