UCMP welcomes two new Museum Scientists
David Haasl joins us from California State University, Chico where he taught several courses in Geology including stratigraphy, invertebrate paleontology, and environmental geology. However, David is not new to UCMP. During the summer of 2000, David worked as an assistant museum scientist at UCMP, coordinating the organization and integration of an extensive collection of invertebrate material from the USGS at Menlo Park. David received his Ph.D. in Geology from UC Davis, working with Sandra Carlson. He will maintain the invertebrate collections, which include mollusks, brachiopods, corals, and insects.
David is investigating the evolution of basked whelks (otherwise known as mud snails). “Mud snails are scavengers, often called ‘vultures of the intertidal,’ and they are of particular interest because they have been very successful since they first appeared in the fossil record.”
Ken Finger has 26 years of professional experience in micropaleontology, specializing in foraminifera and ostracodes. After receiving his Ph.D. in Geology from UC Davis, Ken spent much of his career working as a micropaleontologist at Chevron, initially in applications and later in research. More recently, Ken worked in the environmental industry, responsible for the salvage, curation, and documentation of paleontologic resources from construction sites in 		  David Haasl and Ken Finger
New Museum Scientists David Haasl (left) and Ken Finger. (photos by Colleen Whitney)

California. Ken will maintain the microfossil collections of UCMP.
“Microfossils are wonderful subjects because a small sample often yields an abundance of complete specimens, and they are extremely useful indicators of age and environment.” Ken’s current research is focused on the Miocene foraminifera of California and Chile.

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October, 2002