Library Debuts New Exhibit, Touts Faculty Author Series
April 13, 2017
In 2012, Columbian mammoth bones and more than 1,500 other fossils from the Pleistocene epoch were discovered by Caltrans workers in Merced County. Under the direction of Professor Mark Aldenderfer, the former dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, UC Merced accepted the fossils, which are now part of a permanent display to ensure they remained local and accessible to researchers and the public.
The exhibit, on the second floor of the UC Merced Library near the services desk, features a juvenile mammoth skull and the skull, femur and tusk of a mammoth estimated to be 49 years old at the time of death.
Two iPad Pros affixed to the display allow visitors to navigate through additional information about the Columbian mammoths, the Arboleda dig site, era ecology and related research at UC Merced. The exhibit also features two glass display cases with additional fossils from the dig site. Those fossils will be changed regularly to highlight the many fossils from this extensive collection.
The UC Merced Library extends gratitude to Aldenderfer, Justin McConnel, Joseph Ramos and Bryan Spielman from UC Merced Facilities Management for providing invaluable logistics and materials support for this exhibit, including the fabrication of the mammoth exhibit enclosure.
April 19 Faculty Author Series to Feature Laura Hamilton
Join the UC Merced Library for the next installment of its Faculty Author Series featuring sociology Professor Laura Hamilton. She will discuss her book "Parenting to a Degree: How Family Matters for College and Beyond." The event is from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Room 362 of the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library.
Synopsis: Helicopter parents — the kind that continue to hover even in college — are one of the most ridiculed figures of 21st century parenting, criticized for creating entitled young adults who boomerang back home. But do involved parents really damage their children and burden universities?
In her book, Hamilton illuminates the lives of young women and their families to ask just what role parents play during the crucial college years. Hamilton vividly captures the parenting approaches of mothers and fathers from all walks of life — from a chief financial officer for a Fortune 500 company to a waitress at a roadside diner.
Questions? Contact the UC Merced Library.
