WELCOME TO ANN ARBOR AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Welcome to the 12th North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC) at the University of Michigan. We’re excited that you’re able to join us! The first NAPC, held at the Field Museum 55 years ago, marked a break from specialist meetings by bringing together researchers from all areas of paleontology. This inclusive format makes NAPC a fertile setting for developing new research directions and collaborations. With well over 700 delegates and presentation abstracts, we look forward to the novel ideas that will emerge from your time in Ann Arbor! 

Paleontology has a long and storied history at the University of Michigan. The first meeting of the Board of Regents in 1837—the year of Michigan statehood—established a Cabinet of Natural History at the young University. The following year, the state legislature enacted the Michigan Geological Survey with a mandate to send duplicate specimens to the cabinet. Douglass Houghton, the first state geologist of Michigan, collected the first fossils added to the cabinet from Isle Royale. Through a combination of field efforts and acquisition of existing collections, paleontological holdings of the University of Michigan continued to grow throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Museum of Paleontology came into being with a separate budget in 1926, and from 1928 made its home in the Alexander G. Ruthven Museums Building. In 2018, the museum moved to two new, state-of-the-art facilities: the Biological Sciences Building and the Research Museums Center. Today, the Museum of Paleontology includes over 30 affiliated students, postdoctoral researchers, staff, and faculty.

The University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology contains an estimated 4 million fossil objects housed in three principal collections: vertebrate paleontology, invertebrate paleontology, and paleobotany. Although the holdings are global in scope, particular strengths include Paleozoic invertebrates of the midwestern United States, Permian and Triassic vertebrates of the southwestern United States, Paleogene mammals of Wyoming, and Pleistocene megafauna of the Great Lakes Region. The roughly 20 million objects now held between the Museum of Paleontology and its sibling units the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Museum of Zoology, and Herbarium represent a resource of international significance, and rank as one of the largest university natural history collections in the United States. These research museums collaborate closely with the public-facing Museum of Natural History to share their objects and findings with the University of Michigan community and the public at large. 

The University of Michigan predates Michigan statehood, tracing its roots to a network of schools, libraries, and other institutions established in 1817. Ann Arbor has been home to the University of Michigan since 1841, with the school currently enrolling over 52,000 students of whom roughly 18,000 are postgraduates. The grassy, tree-lined “Diag”, across State Street from most NAPC events in the Michigan Union, represents the historic core of Central Campus. However, little remains from the earliest days of the university in Ann Arbor, with major growth taking place in the early 20th century and many remaining buildings dating to that time. Today, the university includes a North Campus and South Campus that are home to additional academic programs and athletic facilities, respectively.

Ann Arbor is a quintessential college town, with no shortage of options for delegates looking to spend some time away from NAPC. Several university museums and libraries–all free of charge–are located on Central Campus a short distance from NAPC events: the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, and the William Clements Library will all be open during the meeting. You can take a quiet moment in the collegiate gothic quadrangles and library of the Law School or stroll in the wooded acres of Nichols Arboretum. Off campus, you can visit the Matthei Botanical Gardens, take a rented canoe or kayak on the Huron River, tube down Argo Cascades, or explore unique shops in Nickels Arcade, Kerrytown, Main Street, and elsewhere. NAPC coincides with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, which offers a variety of free outdoor entertainment from concerts to movies to contemporary circus, with many events on Ingalls Mall on Central Campus. You’ll also find a wide variety of restaurants, cafes, and watering holes—from no-frills student haunts to fine dining—in Ann Arbor, with many located on State, Liberty, and Main streets west of Central Campus.

We hope you will enjoy your time in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan!

University of Michigan Deep Blue - digital version

Publisher: University of Michigan

Month of Publication:  July

Year of Publication: 2024

Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Volume Number: 39

# of Pages: 476