Harrison, Nebraska – Activities at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument during the weekend of July 28 through July 31 include another chance to see the Agate Fossil Beds Centennial float in the Goshen County Fair Parade in Torrington, Wyoming at 10 a.m. On Friday, July 29, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Museum Curator Maryann Nuebert and Museum Tech Chris Mather will be bringing out items for “Wanna See Cool Stuff?: The Contents of Harold Cook’s Desk, Part II. ” On Saturday, July 30, at 3 p.m. Agate Fossil Beds Ranger Anne Wilson will present “Find Your Galactic Address” at Scotts Bluff National Monument near Gering, Nebraska. On Sunday, July 31, at 2 p.m. Russell Hawley from the Tate Geological Museum in Casper will present “Reconstructing the PalaeoEcology of the White River Formation” in the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument theater. This is a continuation of the Sunday afternoon talk series entitled “Niobrara Meanderings” that spans many topics during the summer months.
On Thursday, July 28, at 10 a.m. look for the Agate Fossil Beds’ Centennial float in the Goshen County Fair Parade in Torrington, Wyoming. This float is a celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the National Park Service and is a way for the Agate Fossil Beds staff to express their excitement in showing the American public some of the beautiful, interesting and historic places in this great country protected by the National Park Service.
On Friday, July 29, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., Museum Curator Maryann Nuebert and Museum Tech Chris Mather will conduct “Wanna See Cool Stuff?: The Contents of Harold Cook’s Desk, Part II ” This time they will be bringing out items that were found in Harold Cook’s desk. A rancher, a paleontologist, a writer – just what would he have keep in his desk?
On Saturday, July 30, at 3 p.m. Agate Fossil Beds Ranger Anne Wilson will present “Find Your Galactic Address” at Scotts Bluff National Monument near Gering, Nebraska. An 18 year veteran at Agate Fossil Beds, Wilson has accumulated a large amount of knowledge about fossils, the relationship between James Cook and his many Native American friends and the amazing night sky. She is a graduate of the Sky Rangers training at Yosemite in 2010. This training in partnership with NASA was given to promote astronomy education. Many national parks including Agate Fossil Beds have amazing night skies. Go to the Scotts Bluff National Monument Visitor Center for this program.
On Sunday, July 31, at 2 p.m. in the Agate Fossil Beds Visitor Center theater, Russell Hawley from the Tate Geological Museum in Casper, Wyoming will be the Niobrara Meanderings speaker. He will present “Reconstructing the PalaeoEcology of the White River Formation.” Hawley received his degree at the University of Colorado in fine art and for 19 years has been at the Tate Geological Museum where he is the Museum Educator guiding tours and providing outreach for the museum. He is a scientific Illustrator and draws the drawings for the Tate Geological Museum exhibits and writes articles for the museum’s newsletter. Hawley has helped on dinosaur digs led by Dr. Robert Bakker, vertebrate paleontologist, and has worked with Dr. Kent Sundell, digging up mammal fossils in the White River Formation southwest of Douglas, Wyoming. This is the same geologic formation found in the extreme northwest corner of Nebraska.
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is located just 22 miles south of Harrison, Nebraska or 34 miles north of Mitchell, Nebraska, on State Highway 29, then east on River Road for three miles to the visitor center. Admission is free. The visitor center is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The park’s two trails are open from dawn to dusk. For more information, go to www.nps.gov/agfo or visit Agate Fossil Beds on Facebook and Twitter.
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