麻豆影院

Grandson following footsteps of legendary CU 麻豆影院 geologist Mary Oswald Griffitts听

Daniel Griffitts (Geo鈥�11) had been quietly volunteering with the paleontology collection at the 麻豆影院 for a long time before anyone realized he was the grandson of a legend, the late geologist Mary Oswald Griffitts.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 bring it up, but (Emeritus Curator of Geology and Professor Emeritus of Natural History) Peter Robinson eventually figured it out. He knew my grandmother pretty well and recognized my name,鈥� says Griffitts, who now works as a seasonal employee with the听CU Museum of Natural History.

Mary Oswald Griffitts鈥� legacy extends beyond CU to the larger 麻豆影院 community and literally the farthest corner of the state. In 1944 she became the first woman to receive a PhD in geology at CU 麻豆影院 and two years later joined the faculty to teach historical geology and invertebrate paleontology.听

She later helped found the 麻豆影院 Junior Natural Sciences School 鈥� a descendant of which continues today as the Thorne Nature Experience 鈥� and in 1981 began work on her detailed collection and cataloguing of the extensive fossil collection at听. She retired at age 83, and following her death in 2010, the family established the听Mary Oswald Griffitts Memorial Fund听at CU.

鈥淚 remember she took me out when I was in kindergarten or first grade to look for fossils on land north of (麻豆影院),鈥� Griffitts recalls. 鈥淚 picked something up that didn鈥檛 look like anything, but there was a little fossil in it. She took it back to CU, where it was positively ID鈥檇 and put in the collection.鈥澨�

Griffitts also vividly remembers the painting of Mesa Verde ruins that hung in his grandparents鈥� house, painted by his grandmother. Inspired by both his grandmother and grandfather, geologist Wallace R. Griffitts, Griffitts studied geology at CU 麻豆影院. After graduating in 2011, he began working as a volunteer in the museum鈥檚 paleontology collection.听

Toni Culver, former collections manager at the museum, soon recommended that the museum hire Griffitts to work on its innovative听听program, which produces a geology 鈥渦nit in a box,鈥� including 18 fossil specimens, lesson plans and support material, that is now being used in 580 Colorado public schools.听

鈥淒aniel, with his paleontology background, has been instrumental in quality control of the fossils and making sure the lessons are accurate. He鈥檚 a very important cog in the wheel, behind the scenes,鈥� says Jim Hakala, senior educator at the CU museum.

Unbeknownst to Daniel, Hakala had his own memories of Mary Oswald Griffitts: As a young seasonal ranger at Mesa Verde in 1989, he endured her grueling, but informative, geology hikes at the park.

鈥淚t was part of our training, but those were the hardest days鈥攍ong and hot, and the lectures were dry as toast,鈥� he says. 鈥淣eedless to say, she stuck in my mind!鈥�

He didn鈥檛 realize, however, that his desert tutor was Mary Oswald Griffitts, the pioneering CU student and faculty member, until just last fall. That鈥檚 when he and several of his colleagues visited Mesa Verde as part of an ongoing collaborative research project between the park and museum. While walking through the ceramic and lithic collection, he came upon a color picture of the woman he remembered from those hot, dry lectures nearly three decades before.听

鈥�(Park staff) said, 鈥榊eah, this collection is here because of what she did. We wouldn鈥檛 have any fossils if it weren鈥檛 for her,鈥欌�� Hakala recalls.

And Hakala didn鈥檛 connect the dots between his former taskmaster and his young museum colleague until they鈥檇 been working together for five years. The big reveal came when Hakala mentioned he鈥檇 worked at the park as the two were driving to Longmont.听

鈥淚 said, 鈥極h, my grandmother used to work at Mesa Verde,鈥欌�� Griffitts says. 鈥淗e said, 鈥極h, who was that?鈥� When I told him, it was, 鈥榃ow! Really?鈥欌��

Griffitts relishes coming across reminders of his grandmother in the course of his work, whether it鈥檚 a document she signed or a specimen she collected.

鈥淚鈥檓 not even close to her level, but I do think it鈥檚 really cool that she used to work in the same place,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always amazing when I come across any of her legacy at the museum.鈥�

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