Students & Staff

Lawrence M. Witmer, PhD, Associate Professor of Anatomy
Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ohio University, 123 Life Sciences Building, Athens, Ohio  45701  USA
Phone: 740 593 9489; Fax: 740 593 2383
Email: witmerl@ohio.edu
  

note: Research in the Witmer lab does not involve experimentation on live animals.  Specimens of modern animals used in research are salvage specimens, obtained legally from commercial or governmental sources.

Sept. 2001: Witmer Lab (96733 bytes)

Jayc Sedlmayr, Andy Clifford, Pat O'Connor, Casey Holliday, Larry Witmer, Ryan Ridgely  (Sept 2001)

 1998: Papp-Witmer-Sedlmayr with dinosaurs (90053 bytes)

Mike Papp, Larry Witmer, and Jayc Sedlmayr with Edmontosaurus and Pinacosaurus (1998)

 1999: Team moose: Witmer-Suchowiecki-Clifford-Pratt (99202 bytes)

Team Moose: Larry Witmer, Bethany Suchowiecki, Andy Clifford, and illustrator Danette Pratt
2001: wild goose chase (180631 bytes)

Casey Holliday, Pat O'Connor, Nancy Stevens, and Andy Clifford inspecting a limestone slab reported to lodge a skeleton (not so...). (September 2001)

 Hey! Get off my car! (172856 bytes)

Andy Clifford, Pat O'Connor, Nancy Stevens, and Casey Holliday  (September 2001)

 

Tobin L. Hieronymus
Department of Biological Sciences
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
email: th108702@ohio.edu
phone: 740 597 1912
fax: 740 593 0300

• 2002–Present
• Doctoral student
• Doctoral research: the influence of dermal and epidermal structures on skull bone in extant vertebrates and the reconstruction of skin structures in dinosaurs

Tobin donning the chain mail gloves to use the band saw.

 

Patrick M. O'Connor
Department of Biomedical Sciences
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
email:  oconnorp@exchange.oucom.ohiou.edu
phone: 740 593 2110
fax: 740 593 2383

• 2000 – present
• Gross Anatomy Instructor / Postdoctoral Researcher
• Currently completing his PhD dissertation (SUNY Stony Brook) on pulmonary pneumaticity in extant birds and theropod dinosaurs.
• Has been pursuing patterns of axial blood flow as well as lung and air sac anatomy in extant sauropsids based on vascular injection, gross dissection, and pulmonary injection (via a hypobaric chamber we constructed).
Pat-Casey-chamber.JPG (125639 bytes) Pat and Casey working on the negative-pressure injection chamber we developed for study of pulmonary air sacs.

 

Jayc C. Sedlmayr
Department of Biological Sciences
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
email: js236391@oak.cats.ohiou.edu
phone: 740 593 2221
fax: 740 593 0300

• 1997–Present
• PhD Candidate 1999 (ABD)
• NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant 2000–2002
• Working dissertation title: "Anatomy, evolution, and functional significance of cephalic vasculature in Archosauria, with special emphasis on birds, crocodilians, and nonavian dinosaurs."

1999: Jayc Sedlmayr injecting alligator (64310 bytes)

 Jayc injecting the respiratory tree of an alligator.
1999: Jayc and Fred Sedlmayr at SVP poster (101234 bytes) Jayc showing his 1999 SVP poster to an interested passerby (his dad, Fred Sedlmayr).

 

Casey M. Holliday
Department of Biological Sciences
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
email: ch338800@ohio.edu 
phone: 740 593 9489
fax: 740 593 0300

• 2000 – present
• Doctoral student
• Doctoral research: Cervicocephalic musculature in Archosauria and its significance for functional interpretation
• Has spearheaded the project on limb articular cartilage in modern and extinct archosaurs

casey01.JPG (107846 bytes)

Casey preparing freshly harvested alligator limb bones for molding and casting.
casey-ostrich.jpg (114343 bytes) Casey measuring the mountain of ostrich limb bones after skeletonization.

 

Andrew B. Clifford
Department of Biological Sciences
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
email: ac100596@oak.cats.ohiou.edu
phone: 740 593 2221
fax: 740 593 0300

• 1999–2000
• Honors Thesis May 2000
• Thesis title: "The Narial Anatomy of Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata) with Respect to other Carnivora"

• 2001–present
• Masters student
• Masters research: Comparative functional anatomy of mammalian proboscis structure: anatomical constraints on adaptive diversity.
2000: Andy Clifford and T. rex (65062 bytes) Andy, with Tyrannosaurus rex skull for scale.

 

Ryan Ridgely
Illustrator/Technician
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
Contact c/o L. M. Witmer
email: ridgely@ohio.edu

• 2000 – present
• Worked on archosaur appendicular articular cartilage study
• Photographed much of the skull collection in the lab
ryan01.JPG (111095 bytes) Ryan perched in the nose of Triceratops.

 

Allison Metti
Honors Tutorial College
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
Contact c/o L. M. Witmer
email: am100498@oak.cats.ohiou.edu

• 2000 – 2001
• Honors Tutorial College Research Apprentice
• Worked on analysis of CT data of Stegosaurus, Pinacosaurus, and other thyreophorans
Allison at work (92122 bytes) Allison working on the CT scans of Stegosaurus.

 

Michael J. Papp
Department of Geological Sciences
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio  45701
Contact c/o L. M. Witmer
email: ceratopsid@hotmail.com 

• 1996–2000
• MS Geology June 2000
• Thesis title: "A Critical Appraisal of Buccal Soft-Tissue Anatomy in Ornithischian Dinosaurs"
• Currently an Associate Geologist at Parsons Engineering Science in Cincinnati, Ohio
2000: Mike Papp & his committee (131681 bytes) Mike with his committee (Larry Witmer, Royal Mapes, Greg Nadon) after successfully defending his thesis.

 

Thomas D. Carr
Department of Palaeobiology
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6
email: tdcarr@excite.com

• 1996–1997
• Worked on analysis of CT data of sauropod dinosaurs
• Currently a doctoral student at the University of Toronto
1997: Thomas Carr (108627 bytes) Thomas sorting through CT scans of Camarasaurus.