Your Bio

Jerry Harris is an Associate Professor and the Director of Paleontology at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. He is also the scientific advisor to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm and its Foundation. He is also the favored food of the theropod dinosaur Monolophosaurus, from which, Captain Hook-like, he is constantly fleeing. You can read more about his past exploits and research here. He occasionally co-leads Sinofossa tours, which are spectacular paleontological experiences for everyone -- many of the pictures below are from these tours. He welcomes you to use photos from his SmugMug site for your personal purposes as long as you give appropriate credit. If you wish to publish any of these photos, or use them in a public forum, please contact him.

Galleries

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 1 - Trip To Beijing : Pictures of the beginning of my 2009 trip to China to co-lead the "Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" geotour, beginning in Las Vegas, going through San Francisco, and on to Beijing!

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 1 - Trip To Beijing

Pictures of the beginning of my 2009 trip to China to co-lead the "Din ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 10:30am PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 2: IVPP : On the first day of the tour, we visited the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), just down the street from the hotel. This is probably the premier vertebrate paleontology institution in China, and certainly one of the most famous in the world, no matter how you slice it.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 2: IVPP

On the first day of the tour, we visited the Institute of Vertebrate P ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 10:39am PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 3: Beijing Zoo : A little trip to the Beijing Zoo! It was, overall, a really nice zoo, and it looks like they're slowly updating the cages (like the huge new vulture aviary). Their primary attraction, of course, is the pandas.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 3: Beijing Zoo

A little trip to the Beijing Zoo! It was, overall, a really nice zoo, ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 11:08am PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 4: Zhoukoudian (Peking Man) : After the Beijing Zoo, we went to the Peking Man site called Zhoukoudian, southwest of Beijing. This is the site of the first discoveries of Homo erectus in Asia, and the place is beautiful! The museum is very well done, too.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 4: Zhoukoudian (Peking Man)

After the Beijing Zoo, we went to the Peking Man site called Zhoukoudi ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 11:44am PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 5: Beijing Museum of Natural History : After Zhoukoudian, we were off to the Beijing Museum of Natural History. Along with the IVPP and the Geological Museum of China, this is one of the Big Three natural history museums with fossil exhibits in Beijing, and the only one I hadn't been to previously.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 5: Beijing Museum of Natural History

After Zhoukoudian, we were off to the Beijing Museum of Natural Histor ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 12:32pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 6: A Trip To Hailu's Office : Before heading off to Gansu Province for the bulk of the tour, we stopped into Hailu's office at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences to see some of the actual fossils from Changma that we hoped we would actually dig up later!

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 6: A Trip To Hailu's Office

Before heading off to Gansu Province for the bulk of the tour, we stop ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 12:39pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 7: Around Lanzhou : From Beijing, we flew into the city of Lanzhou in eastern Gansu Province. That would be the starting point of the rest of our journey. These are pictures taken on the drive from the airport to Lanzhou (about an hour -- the city is in a valley that offers little good opportunity for landing planes) and around the city.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 7: Around Lanzhou

From Beijing, we flew into the city of Lanzhou in eastern Gansu Provin ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 12:47pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 8: Visit To Li Da-qing's Lab : When in Lanzhou, we stop in at Li Da-qing's lab, wherein he has stored all of his latest and greatest acquisitions from the field. Because many of these are unpublished as yet, I can't put photos in of many things; the ones shown here are things already published. Da-qing works for the deep breath Fossil Research and Development Center of the Third Geology and Mineral Resources Exploration Academy of Gansu Province; he and his teams have been absolutely critical to recovering some of the most interesting and unusual dinosaurs to come out of China in recent years. His partnership with Hailu has been incredibly productive, and I hope it continues for many, many more years!

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 8: Visit To Li Da-qing's Lab

When in Lanzhou, we stop in at Li Da-qing's lab, wherein he has stored ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 1:00pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 9: Liujiaxia Dinosaur Geopark : From Lanzhou, one can also head to the Liujiaxia Dinosaur National Geopark, an amazing dinosaur track site up on the site of a mountain. The tracks are in the Lower Cretaceous Hekou Group; I think there are multiple track-bearing layers. The museum covers only one of the many track-bearing sites in the area. At present, there are only two ways to get to the museum: (1) by boat (about a half-hour ride) down and across the Huanghe (Yellow) River, or (2) walking along railroad tracks from a far-distant village (about an hour hike). We chose the boat. I regret to report that it looks like they are now putting in highway access across the Huanghe to the site and on to the village...I regret that only because I love taking the boat!

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 9: Liujiaxia Dinosaur Geopark

From Lanzhou, one can also head to the Liujiaxia Dinosaur National Geo ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 1:33pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 10: Lanzhou To Jiayuguan : The day after the trip to Liujiaxia, we set out for the city of Jiayuguan -- about a 10 hour drive or so. Thankfully, most of the drive was right along the northern end of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, marked by the Qilian Mountains, so the scenery was great!

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 10: Lanzhou To Jiayuguan

The day after the trip to Liujiaxia, we set out for the city of Jiayug ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 1:50pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 11: White Pagoda : After a restful night in Jiayuguan, we set out the next morning for the site called White Pagoda, from which lots of cool dinosaurs, like Auroraceratops, Xiongguanlong, Suzhousaurus, and the giant ornithomimosaur Beishanlong have been found and described by Da-qing and Hailu.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 11: White Pagoda

After a restful night in Jiayuguan, we set out the next morning for th ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 2:03pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 12: West End Of The Great Wall Park : After a morning at White Pagoda, we spent the afternoon at the park surrounding the west end of the Great Wall.

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 12: West End Of The Great Wall Park

After a morning at White Pagoda, we spent the afternoon at the park su ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 2:18pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 13: Jerry's Changma Talk : After the Great Wall Park, we drove to the city of Yumen, about a 3-hour drive. That night, after dinner at the hotel, it was my turn to give a little presentation to give the group more background about Changma and the stuff we'd be seeing and working in for the next three days. Sadly, this was at the end of a long, long day, and I tend to be long-winded, so...

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 13: Jerry's Changma Talk

After the Great Wall Park, we drove to the city of Yumen, about a 3-ho ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 2:23pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 14: Changma Day 1 : We've arrived at the primary goal of our tour: Changma! We commute the hour or so drive from Yumen in the Changma Basin each day (there's no hotels in the basin) and get to drive through the foothills of the Qilian Mountains to get there...

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 14: Changma Day 1

We've arrived at the primary goal of our tour: Changma! We commute th ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 2:40pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 14: Changma Day 2 : Day 2 in the quarries at Changma! Will it be more productive than Day 1...???

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 14: Changma Day 2

Day 2 in the quarries at Changma! Will it be more productive than Day ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 3:01pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 14: Changma Day 3 : On Day 3, while everyone else slogged away in the quarries, I thought I'd attempt to get a better handle on the local geology -- until now, I'd basically seen the quarries and stuff along the road, but that was it. In the interest of trying to figure out how extensive the productive horizon was, as well as see more about how the Xiagou lake system changed through time (and perhaps identify other productive horizons), I spent the day hiking around in basically a giant circle around the quarries. Murphy's Law therefore dictates that Day 3 would be the day when cool stuff would be found...and this fundamental governing principle of the universe didn't let me down! The team found 9 bird fossils, a few fish, a part of a turtle, and many cool insects. A banner day! I wonder if there's any other lacustrine unit in the world that's ever produced nine birds in a day... And what did I learn from my geological studies and hikes? Several things, but primarily: (1) the geology in this area is fubarized; and (2) man, am I out of shape...!

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 14: Changma Day 3

On Day 3, while everyone else slogged away in the quarries, I thought ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 3:12pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 15: Dunhuang & The Mogao Grottoes : After Yumen, we drove another four or so hours to Dunhuang, near the western end of Gansu. Dunhuang is a big tourist town within China because it's adjacent to the Mogao Grottoes, a historically famous site where a cliff side is riddled with artificial caves carved out over the last several centuries. Depending on how much money went into each cave, they contain Buddha statues of various sizes and/or elaborate art. Hailu got us an absolutely fabulous tour guide who took us into several of the grottoes, all of which were amazing and beautiful. I was very pleasantly surprised by the site (given that I'm not much into archeological stuff) and it was, frankly, a highlight of the trip for me. I'd go back in a heartbeat! The single downside about the place was that they didn't allow cameras inside, so I have no pictures from inside any of the grottoes! I understand this -- light degrades the paint and colors in the grottoes, so I empathize -- but the lack of photographic souvenirs is kind of sad...

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 15: Dunhuang & The Mogao Grottoes

After Yumen, we drove another four or so hours to Dunhuang, near the w ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 3:22pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 16: Beijing Night Market & Karaoke : From Dunhuang, we returned to Beijing (with a slight detour through Urumqi because the direct Dunhuang-Beijing flight was cancelled). Most of our happy group left for home, but a few stayed on. Jack and Christie wanted to venture to the fabled Donganmen Night Market in Beijing (on Wangfujing Street), and Jessie, Matt, and I went with them. The Night Market is basically a few city blocks lined with stalls selling...well, things that in the West could only be very loosely called "food," and then pretty much only in the context of discussing either Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or Fear Factor. Jack, brave soul that he is, was pretty much fearless and tried any number of exotic things. Matt had slightly fewer (despite having filled up on Pizza Hut immediately prior). I had a somewhat less-than-pleasant alimentary reaction last year after consuming duck brain and duck eyeball, so I was taking it tame this year...the only weird thing I ate at the night market was the head half of a seahorse. Despite its name, the Night Market seemed to shut down around 9:30 or 10 PM, so we retired to the Party World franchise near our hotel for caterwauling...er, singing...

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 16: Beijing Night Market & Karaoke

From Dunhuang, we returned to Beijing (with a slight detour through Ur ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 3:44pm PST

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 17: The Last Foot Massage : This was long, long after the tour was over...but I thought I'd toss these pictures in anyway. Matt, Jessie, and I stayed in Beijing for several more weeks to do some research with Hailu; one night we decided to go for foot massages. We actually had a few of these on this trip, including during the tour in Dunhuang (but I didn't have my camera with me!). I've had them before, too, and it seems that while there are some common elements, everywhere you go you get a different kind of foot massage. Most of them make your feet feel wonderfully squishy and airy, although depending on who's delivering, the massage can sometimes hurt a bit (well, what do you expect from having someone use their knuckles to drive your metatarsals into different time zones?!?).

"Dinosaurs Along The Silk Road" -- Sinofossa 2009 17: The Last Foot Massage

This was long, long after the tour was over...but I thought I'd toss t ...

Updated: Jul 07, 2009 10:13am PST

Trip To Qijiang 1: Drive From Chongqing : A couple of days after the tour was over, I left Beijing again and headed for the city of Qijiang, which is really a suburb of Chongqing, in south-central China. This was my first time ever in southern China. I'd been invited there via a colleague of Hailu's named Lida Xing. Lida's a great guy -- very eager and very quick; he's already authored almost two dozen for-the-public books on paleontology, and a new one that is a biography of Yang Zhongjian (C.C. Young). He's applied to get his doctorate at the University of Alberta with famous paleontologist Phil Currie, and we all hope he gets there! Great things will come from this man in the future... Lida had been contacted a few years ago by Mr. Wang of the city of Qijiang to work on a dinosaur track site just outside the city, and Lida invited me to come see the site in preparation to do more work on it later. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when going...but I don't think I could have predicted the adventure I had!

Trip To Qijiang 1: Drive From Chongqing

A couple of days after the tour was over, I left Beijing again and hea ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 3:58pm PST

Trip To Qijiang 2: Jiaguan Formation Track Site : On to the big adventure! Lida and I arrived in Qijiang in time for dinner and a good night's sleep before heading to the track site the next morning. Despite now having some sense of the local climate and physiography, I was wholly unable to anticipate what the tracksite would be like...or, more specifically, what was entailed in getting to the track site! I think I have been spoiled by relatively easy-to-access sites, like the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, the Warner Valley tracksite, Dinosaur Ridge, and the Copper Ridge track site. So I thought that there was probably some bedding plane exposed, probably at some angle, on one of the hillsides, and we'd either drive right up to it or close enough for a short walk. I will not make that mistake again...!

Trip To Qijiang 2: Jiaguan Formation Track Site

On to the big adventure! Lida and I arrived in Qijiang in time for di ...

Updated: Jul 07, 2009 10:05am PST

Trip To Qijiang 3: Fossil Trees & Future Qijiang Museum of Natural History : The day after the Fun Happy Path of Doom and the tracksite was much more sedate. In the morning, Mr. Wang took me to see a fossil wood site on the edge of town; then we went to his office to see a few dinosaur bones and other fossils that were excavated nearby. These are all undescribed, so I did not upload photos of them here pending their publication (and I hope to be involved in the dinosaur ones!). In the afternoon, we went to see the spot where the bones and other fossils came from, and then to see the future Qijiang Museum of Natural History, which is currently under construction and should be wonderful when completed!

Trip To Qijiang 3: Fossil Trees & Future Qijiang Museum of Natural History

The day after the Fun Happy Path of Doom and the tracksite was much mo ...

Updated: Jul 06, 2009 4:13pm PST