Email: sauropod@berkeley.edu

Phone: (510) 642-1730

Why UCMP? "Jere Lipps came and gave a talk at the University of Oklahoma when I was there working on my master's degree. He suggested I apply to the doctoral program at Berkeley. I knew about Bill Clemens, and Kevin Padian, whose research I was drawn to, and the more I learned about the UCMP, the more I wanted to come work here."

Research Interests: "I work on air-filled bones in dinosaurs and birds. A lot of people know birds have these bones and assume that it's an adapation for flight; but many people don't necessarily know that birds inherited these bones from dinosaurs. Part of my dissertation is looking further into these bones and how they evolved in dinosaurs; the other part of my research is how these bones develop in birds."

Why Paleontology? "The August 1978 National Geographic had a cover article on dinosaurs. I was three years old, and it was love at first sight. The article was written by John Ostrom. Many years later, John spoke at the dedication of the Oklahoma Museum. I volunteered to be his chauffeur for the week, and he and I became fast friends. He was — and is — an inspiration to me."

Read Matt's research profile: Hunting the inflatable dinosaur

Wedel, M. J. 2007. Aligerando a los gigantes (Lightening the giants). ˇFundamental! 12:1-84. [in Spanish, with English translation]  

Wedel, M.J. 2007. What pneumaticity tells us about prosauropods, and vice versa. Special Papers in Palaeontology 77:207-222.

Wedel, M.J. 2006. Origin of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in dinosaurs. Integrative Zoology 1(2):80-85.  

Wedel, M.J. 2005. Postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in sauropods and its implications for mass estimates. Pp. 201-228 in J.A. Wilson and K. Curry-Rogers (eds.), The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology. University of California Press.

Wedel, M.J., and R.L. Cifelli. 2005. Sauroposeidon: Oklahoma's native giant. Oklahoma Geology Notes 65(2):40-57.