THOMAS M. CULLEN, PH.D.
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Field Experience

I have a passion for field work and exploration, and am fortunate enough to have performed field research in a variety of different conditions and environments, ranging from badlands and deserts to mountains and polar regions. I have experience working with both large teams on major excavations and smaller crews in remote areas.

​Below is a detailed listing of field work I have participated in:

July 2022: Alberta, Canada. Co-leader of Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project (SADP) working in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, vertebrate microfossil bonebeds, biostratigraphy.

August 2020: Montana, USA. Co-leader prospecting for fossils, performing geological sampling, and collecting vertebrate microfossil bonebeds in the Lat Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation near Jordan, Montana. Field work focus – microfossil bonebeds, geochem/sed sampling.

September 2019: Ontario, Canada. Co-leader prospecting for fossils and performing geological sampling in Cretaceous strata in the Moose River Basin (Mattagami Formation) of Northern Ontario. Field work focus – prospecting, dinosaurs.

August 2019: British Columbia, Canada. Co-leader prospecting for fossils and performing geological comparisons in Late Cretaceous strata in Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park (Tango Creek and Brothers Peak formations). Field work focus – prospecting, dinosaurs, palaeoenvironments.

February 2019: Neuquén / Rio Negro (Patagonia), Argentina. Prospecting and excavating dinosaur and vertebrate fossil material found in Cretaceous strata (Candeleros, Huincul, and Anacleto formations). Field work focus – prospecting, archosaur excavations, palaeoenvironments.

September 2018: Missouri, USA. Excavating Late Cretaceous dinosaur and vertebrate fossil material in southeastern Missouri. Field work focus – dinosaur excavation, biostratigraphy.

August 2018: Alberta, Canada. Participated in Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project (SADP) working in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, vertebrate microfossil bonebeds, biostratigraphy.

July-August 2018: Utah, USA. Prospecting for fossils and collecting sediments from previous sites for absolute dating along the western and eastern sides of the San Rafael Swell in Utah.. Field work focus – dinosaur palaeontology, prospecting, sediment sampling.

July 2018: Montana, USA. Prospecting for fossils and visiting previous sites in Cretaceous strata near Jordan, MT.. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, prospecting, palaeoenvironments.

August 2017: British Columbia, Canada. Prospecting for fossils and measuring stratigraphic sections in Cretaceous strata along the Sustut River in northern BC.. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, prospecting, palaeoenvironments.

July – August 2017: Alberta, Canada.
Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project (SADP) fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, prospecting, quarry relocation, biostratigraphy.

July – August 2016: Alberta, Canada. Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project (SADP) fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, prospecting, quarry relocation, biostratigraphy.

July 2016: Montana, USA. Measuring stratigraphic sections and relocating old sites in late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation strata near Jordan, Montana, and the Judith River Formation strata near Havre, Montana. This work was performed alongside the field camp of Drs. Greg Wilson, Mark Goodwin, and Jack Horner. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, biostratigraphy, quarry relocation

July 2016: North Dakota, USA. Prospecting vertebrate material in late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation strata near Marmarth, North Dakota. This work was performed alongside the field camp of Dr. Tyler Lyson. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, prospecting, stratigraphy

October 2015: Louisiana, USA. Co-leader opportunistic sampling of hard tissues from vertebrates in the Atchafalaya Basin, near Lafayette, Louisiana. Field work focus – field ecology.

July 2015: Alberta, Canada.
Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project (SADP) fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata (primarily Oldman Formation) near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, prospecting.

June – July 2015: Montana, USA. Excavating dinosaur material in late Cretaceous Judith River Formation strata near Malta, Montana. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, prospecting, stratigraphy

February 2015: Louisiana, USA. Co-leader opportunistic sampling of hard tissues from vertebrates in the Atchafalaya Basin, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Field work focus – field ecology.

July 2014: Alberta, Canada.
Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project (SADP) fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata (primarily Oldman Formation) near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation

July 2013: Montana, USA. Excavating dinosaur material in late Cretaceous Judith River Formation strata near Malta, Montana. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, prospecting

June – July 2013: Alberta, Canada. SADP fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata (primarily Oldman Formation) near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, microsite collection, quarry relocation

July – August 2012: Northwest Territories, Canada. Participated in field expedition of late Cretaceous deposits along the Horton and Big Fish rivers, North West Territories. Field work focus – stratigraphy, sediment sampling, prospecting

July 2011: Alberta, Canada. SADP fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata (primarily Oldman Formation) near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation, prospecting

February 2011: Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Participated in interdisciplinary field and education expedition led by Students on Ice and teams from six international universities (Canadian, American, British, Swedish). Expedition was based on the research vessel M/V Ushuaia, and involved landings on locations across the Antarctic Peninsula. Field work focus - palaeontology, geology, glaciology, oceanography.

July 2010: Nunavut, Canada. Field expedition in early Miocene deposits of the Haughton Formation and associated Haughton Impact Structure on Devon Island, Nunavut. Field work focus – mammal palaeontology, prospecting, stratigraphy
​

July 2009: Alberta, Canada. SADP fieldwork in late Cretaceous Belly River Group strata (primarily Oldman Formation) near Manyberries, Alberta. Field work focus – vertebrate palaeontology, dinosaur excavation
Investigating a microsite in the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota)
The skull of an alligator gar (Atractosteus), sampled for isotopic analysis (Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana)
Wetland landscape of the Atchafalaya River Basin (Louisiana)
Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus) encounter during fieldwork along the Horton River (NWT)
Badlands of the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota)
Collecting sediments for screening from a microsite in the Oldman Formation (Alberta)
Taking a zodiac through the ice to reach Seymour Island, Antarctica
A handful of fossils collected from the surface of a microsite in the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota)
Twin-otter aircraft departs after dropping us off for fieldwork on Devon Island (Nunavut)
Wading across the Big Fish River downstream of the junction with Boundary Creek, near the Yukon/NWT border
Sampling alligator gar (Atractosteus) for isotopic analysis. Specimen was caught by locals from the Atchafalaya River Basin (Louisiana)
Hunting for dinosaur fossils in the Mattagami Formation at Adam Creek (Northern Ontario)
View of the Sustut River while prospecting for fossils in the Tango Creek & Brothers Peak Formations (British Columbia)
Group photo of the Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project 2016 field crew.
View of the landscape during fieldwork in the Cedar Mountain Formation (Utah)
Checking stratigraphic positions of Oldman Formation microsites with D. Brinkman & D. Evans (Alberta)
Atchafalaya River Basin landscape (Louisiana)
Collecting microfossils from the Acheroraptor holotype quarry, Hell Creek Formation (Montana)
Basecamp during arctic field work on Devon Island (Nunavut)
Working with K. Chiba in the holotype quarry of Wendiceratops, Oldman Formation (Alberta)
Camp along the Horton River during fieldwork collecting sediment samples & prospecting for vertebrates (NWT)
Prospecting for dinosaurs in outcrops of the Brothers Peak Formation on the Spatsizi Plateau (British Columbia)
Checking out the passing icebergs while our ship moves between sites in Antarctica
Stabilizing exposed fossil bone prior to collection, Judith River Formation (Montana)
View of our ship from atop a large ice patch we were helping our colleagues core for research samples (Antarctica)
SADP fieldcrew excavating a Centrosaurus bonebed in the Oldman Formation (Alberta)
Group photo after a successful day of fieldwork. G. Wilson, J. Matthews, D. Evans, T. Cullen, M. Goodwin (Montana)
Relocating old quarries in the Judith River Formation (Montana)
Fieldwork in the north often involves bringing firearms due to the risk of encountering polar or grizzly bears (NWT)
Home for several weeks during fieldwork on Devon Island (Nunavut)
Helicopter preparing to pick us up from our camp along the Big Fish River (NWT)
Badlands exposing the Foremost and lower Oldman formations (Alberta)
Muskox were a fixture of the tundra landscape during fieldwork sampling Cretaceous sediments along the Horton River (NWT)
Surveying Late Cretaceous and other sites on Seymour Island (Antarctica)
Navigating the uneven terrain while prospecting along the Sustut River (British Columbia)
View from a bonebed of mammals found during fieldwork on Devon Island (Nunavut)
Fossil leaf found in the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota)
Late Cretaceous badlands during SADP fieldwork (Alberta)
Excavating a Daspletosaurus from the Oldman Formation (Alberta)
This young caribou visited our camp along the Horton River (NWT)
View of the Haughton Crater on Devon Island, taken around 1am (Nunavut)
Measuring stratigraphic sections in the Judith River Formation (Montana)
Overlooking the outcrops of the Judith River Formation from a local high point (Montana)
Excavating a multi-taxic bonebed in the Judith River Formation (Montana)
Preparing to helicopter lift a large body-block of a Foremost Formation hadrosaur from the bottom of a river valley (Alberta)
Lunch time during fieldwork prospecting outcrops of the Tango Creek and Brothers Peak formations (British Columbia)
An important sampling area during our fieldwork collecting tissues for isotopic analysis from the Atchafalaya River Basin (Louisiana)
A juvenile Alligator collected for isotopic analysis from a road beside a bayou in the Atchafalaya River Basin (Louisiana)
Pointing towards the K/Pg boundary layer during fieldwork in the Hell Creek Formation (Montana)
Collecting an exceptionally preserved & nearly complete fossil croc from the Oldman Formation (Alberta)
Capping field jackets at the end of the season during fieldwork with the SADP crew (Alberta)
View of outcrops of the Cedar Mountain and Morrison formations (Utah)
A preserved patch of hadrosaur skin atop a block of eroding hadrosaur skeleton in the Oldman Formation (Alberta)
Close-up view of a microsite from the upper Oldman Formation (Alberta)
Decaying Virginia Opossum (Didelphis) collected for isotopic analysis from the Atchafalaya River Basin (Louisiana)
Badlands of the Neuquén Group (Argentina)
Large theropod teeth collected during fieldwork in the Neuquén Group (Argentina)
Close-up of outcrop of the Cretaceous-aged Huincul Formation (Argentina)
View from our second camp on the Spatsizi Plateau after unexpectedly heavy snow the previous night (British Columbia)
View of our first camp on the Spatsizi Plateau (British Columbia)
Plant fossils preserved in mudstone units of the Cretaceous-aged Mattagami Formation (Ontario)
Collecting sediment samples from the Cretaceous-aged Mattagami Formation and overlying sediment units (Ontario)
Partial fossil tree stump preserved in mudstone units of the Cretaceous-aged Mattagami Formation (Ontario)
Landscape visible during ship transit between sites in Antarctica
View while prospecting outcrops of the Tango Creek and Brothers Peak formations along Birdflat Creek (British Columbia)
Collecting sediment samples for screen-washing from a microsite in the Belly River Group (Alberta)

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