Hunting Mammoths in Alaska - ASA Calgary Lecture Series

Join us for our November talk, Hunting Mammoths in Alaska , as part of the ASA Calgary Lecture Series! This in-person event will be held at the Central Library - Patricia A. Whelan Room. The talk will conclude with a free raffle that will award three attendees present in person the adoption of their very own mammoth, bringing the past alive. Join us on this journey through time as we uncover some of the mysteries of mammoth extinction and their history in Alaska! Secure your spot now!

Presenter: Dr. Matthew Wooller, PhD (he, him, his)

Date: November 20, 2024

Time: Lecture start at 7:00p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Location: Central Library - Patricia A. Whelan Room

ABSTRACT

The extinction of woolly mammoths is still a subject of debate while ongoing efforts are devoted to de-extinct this iconic Ice Age creature. The recent discovery of ancient DNA from mammoths found in frozen ground in Siberia and Canada indicates the existence of mainland mammoths less than 10,000 years ago. This evidence extends the temporal gap between human arrival and mammoth extinction. This talk will explore several case studies investigating mammoths in Alaska, all aiming to shed light on the timing and potential causes of their extinction. We will finish with the "Adopt a Mammoth" project, initiated in 2022, which is actively searching for the last mammoth on mainland Alaska. Supported by public donations, Colossal Biosciences, and a new NSF project, this study is systematically radiocarbon dating and analyzing the ancient DNA of nearly 1,500 mammoth specimens at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. Exciting new findings from this project will be shared. The talk will conclude with a free raffle that will award three attendees present in person the adoption of their very own mammoth, bringing the past alive. Join us on this journey through time as we uncover some of the mysteries of mammoth extinction and their history in Alaska

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:

Matthew Wooller, PhD (he, him, his)

Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, Water and Environmental Research Center & College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Mat Wooller is an (paleo)ecologist specializing in isotopic analyses of modern and past organisms, including the tusks and bones of mammoths. He is a Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where for about 20 years he has directed the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility. Primarily focusing on the Arctic, Mat uses cutting edge isotopic techniques to reconstruct past climates, ecosystems and the diets of animals and some of the earliest people in Alaska. His lab’s isotopic analyses of mammoth tusks are providing an unprecedent and detailed perspective on the movement ecology of mammoths. Mat is also the founder and lead of the “Adopt a Mammoth” project that is coupling crowd-sourcing, radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA techniques to study the University of Alaska Museum of the North’s large collection of mammoth specimens in a collaborative and interdisciplinary hunt for the last surviving mammoth in mainland Alaska. Mat serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of “Colossal”, a bioscience company combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery to de-extinct woolly mammoths. By studying past and present ecosystems Mat hopes to help make better predications about future ecological outcomes resulting from environmental changes.

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