American Society of Paleontology

American Society of Paleontology
Name	American Society of Paleontology
Formation	20th century
Type	Professional society
Headquarters	United States
Language	English

American Society of Paleontology The American Society of Paleontology is a professional organization dedicated to the study and promotion of paleontology in the United States. It connects researchers, curators, educators, and enthusiasts associated with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The Society collaborates with federal agencies like the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution research centers, and academic programs at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, and University of Chicago.

History

The Society traces its roots to early 20th‑century associations that included members from United States Geological Survey, Carnegie Institution for Science, New York Botanical Garden, Columbia University, and Princeton University. Influential figures connected with its founding era include curators and researchers from American Museum of Natural History, proponents from the Geological Society of America, and paleontologists affiliated with Harvard University and Yale University. Over decades the Society interacted with initiatives by the National Science Foundation, collaborated on field programs in the Badlands National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and the Morrison Formation, and responded to legislative events involving the Antiquities Act and policies from the United States Congress affecting fossil provenance.

Mission and Activities

The Society's mission emphasizes support for research at institutions like Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, Cornell University, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Pennsylvania while promoting public outreach in partnership with museums such as the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the Field Museum of Natural History. Activities include facilitating collaborations among curators from Natural History Museum, London, paleobiologists at University of Cambridge, stratigraphers from University of Oxford, and micropaleontologists associated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Society advocates for responsible stewardship in coordination with agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and legal frameworks such as the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act.

Membership and Governance

Membership comprises academic researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, professional staff from Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, graduate students at University of California, Santa Barbara, and amateur collectors active with state societies in Texas, Montana, and Wyoming. Governance follows a board structure with elected officers analogous to boards at the Geological Society of America, Ecological Society of America, and Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, and consults committees with representatives from museums including the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. The Society liaises with funding bodies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation for grant administration.

Conferences and Publications

Annual meetings attract speakers from University of California, Davis, Brown University, Dartmouth College, University of Texas at Austin, and research teams from Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Society's conferences feature symposia on subjects studied at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and American Museum of Natural History, and workshops modeled after programs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Publications include a peer‑reviewed journal comparable in scope to titles published by the Geological Society of America, newsletter exchanges with the Paleobiology Database community, and monograph series used by curators at the Field Museum of Natural History and researchers at University of Chicago.

Research and Education Initiatives

Research initiatives partner investigators from University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, University of Michigan, and overseas collaborators at University of Cambridge and University of Bonn. Educational programs include K–12 outreach inspired by exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History and teacher training modeled after curricula from the National Science Teachers Association and the Smithsonian Institution. Field schools and summer programs take place at fossil localities such as the Hell Creek Formation, Morrison Formation, Green River Formation, and Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, often in coordination with university field courses from University of Colorado Boulder and community colleges.

Awards and Honors

The Society confers awards recognizing contributions by researchers affiliated with Yale University, Harvard University, University of Chicago, Stanford University, and curators at the American Museum of Natural History. Honors include lifetime achievement recognitions analogous to prizes awarded by the Geological Society of America and early‑career awards similar to grants from the National Science Foundation and fellowships modeled on those from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Medal recipients often have ties to institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Field Museum of Natural History, and international partners like the Natural History Museum, London.

Category:Paleontology organizations