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Research & Collections
The Museum is a state and federal collections repository for paleontological and archaeological materials collected on both public lands and from the private sector. The Museum’s repository is home to hundreds of thousands of artifacts and fossils from southern Nevada. These important materials are preserved, stored, researched and often exhibited at the Museum. Visitors to the Museum are invited to view the Research and Collections Department's work in the Richard Ditton Learning Lab at the Museum.*
Dr. Stephen Rowland
Paleontologist, Richard A. Ditton Learning Lab Manager
Dr. Stephen Rowland is a professor in the Department of Geology. He received his Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1978. Professor Rowland's primary studies are in the areas of paleontology, paleoecology, stratigraphy, and the history of geology. My students and I study the history of life on Earth as recorded in the fossil record, especially the paleontology of Southern Nevada and adjacent regions. Our research ranges from the earliest (late pre-Cambrian) animal fossils, to Jurassic dinosaur tracks (and those of co-existing animals) in Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park, to Ice-Age fossils of the Tule Springs area. My history of geology research focuses primarily on the 18th century, especially in Russia.