Education

• Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, 1997. Ph.D. Department of Geological Sciences Dissertation - A Phylogenetic Analysis of The Euryapsid Reptiles.
• B.A., Oberlin College, 1977. Major - Judaic and Near Eastern Studies.

Languages

• German
• Russian.

Teaching Experience

• 2004- 2005- Director of Undergraduate Studies - Geology, University of Maryland, College Park;

• 2001- 2005- Lecturer, University of Maryland, College Park, Geology Department;
  • Invertebrate Paleontology
  • On Beyond Dinosaurs: Patterns and Enigmas in Vertebrate Evolution (Freshman seminar for UMCP Honors Program)
  • Introduction to Physical Geology (lecture sections)
  • Invertebrate Paleontology (lab)
  • Earth, Life, and Time Freshman Colloquium
  • Earth, Life, and Time Sophomore Colloquium
  • Field Studies II: The Natural History of the Galápagos Islands (Three credits, centered on ten day island tour.)
  • Field Studies I: The Natural History of Arizona (One credit, centered on ten day island tour.)

• 2002, Spring - Instructor Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University;
  • Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

• 1999-2000, Faculty Research Assistant , University of Maryland, College Park, Geology Department;
  • Invertebrate Paleontology

• 1999-2000 Assistant Director, College Park Scholars, Earth, Life, and Time, University of Maryland, College Park;

• 1993-1996 Assistant Instructor, University of Texas at Austin;
  • The Age of Dinosaurs (4 semesters lecture sections)
  • Introduction to Physical Geology (lecture sections)

• 1991 - 1993, 1997: Teaching Assistant, University of Texas at Austin;
  • The Age of Dinosaurs (3 semesters)
  • Structural Geology
  • Multimedia Production for Natural Sciences

Research Experience

• 1997: Research Associate, Center for Instructional Technologies, Computation Center, University of Texas at Austin. Content editor for project publishing crocodylian CT data on CD-ROM.
• 1993-1994: Research Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences. Developed and tested interactive educational multimedia applications for use in "The Age of Dinosaurs."

Outside Funding

• 1995, National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, CT scanning of fossil specimens and travel to European museum collections.
• 1995, Geological Society of America, travel to North American museum collections
• 1994, Geology Foundation, Department of Geological Sciences, travel to North American museum collections
• 1993, Geology Foundation, Department of Geological Sciences, travel to North American museum collections

Awards

• Outstanding Instructor Award, University of Maryland, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences, 2004.
• Outstanding Student Technical Presentation, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1997.
• Departmental Distinguished Fellow, University of Texas at Austin, 1995-1996.
• University Fellowships, University of Texas at Austin, 1990-1991.
• University of Maryland Deans list, 1988 and 1989.

Memberships

• Society of Systematic Biology.
• Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
• Geological Society of America.

Paleontological Field Experience

• 2001, The Miocene Calvert Cliffs Formation, Holiday Beach, Maryland.
• 1998, The Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation, Navajo Tribal Lands, Arizona.
• 1997, The Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation, Navajo Tribal Lands, Arizona.
• 1995, The Late Cretaceous Aguja and Javelina Formations, Big Bend National Park, Texas.
• 1995, The Early Permian Clear Fork Group, Archer County, Texas.
• 1994, The Late Cretaceous Aguja and Javelina Formations, Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Presented Papers

• Merck, J. W. , Jr. 1995. The cranial anatomy of Trilophosaurus buettneri as revealed by high-resolution computer aided tomography. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Abstracts of Papers, 15(3): 49A.
• Sumrall, C. D., C. A. Brochu, and J. W. Merck, Jr. 1996. The effects of multiple primitive states and single taxon outgroups on parsimony-based phylogenetics. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, 28(1):65.
• Merck, J. W. , Jr. 1996. A congruence test of the homologies of the ichthyosaurian carpus based on element randomization. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Abstracts of Papers, 16(3): 55A.
• Sumrall, C. D., C. A. Brochu, and J. W. Merck, Jr. 1997. Bias introduced into majority rule consensus by labile taxa: Its cause, description, and consequences for bootstrap analysis. Society of Systematic Biologists/Society for the Study of Evolution Annual Meeting, Boulder. (No abstract).
• Merck, J. W. , Jr. 1997. A phylogenetic analysis of the euryapsid reptiles. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Abstracts of Papers, 17(3): 65A.
• Brochu, C. A., T. B. Rowe, J. W. Merck, Jr., M. W. Colbert, K. Kishi. 1998. The visible alligator: A digital atlas of alligator craniology based on high-resolution CT data. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Abstracts of Papers, 18(3): 29A.
• Merck, J. W. , Jr. 1999. A digital analysis of the ordering of multistate characters. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Abstracts of Papers, 19(3): 63A.
  
• Brochu, C. A., C. D. Sumrall, J. W. Merck, Jr. 1999. Majority-rule consensus and bootstrap bias - Global lability and regional resolution. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, 31(7): A138.
  
• Merck, J. W. , Jr. 2003 An arboreal radiation of non-saurian diapsids. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Abstracts of Papers, 23(3): 78A.

Publications

• Merck, J. W., Jr. 1995. Mesozoic errors. The Sciences, September/October 1995: 40-43.
• Merck, J. W., Jr. 1998. Review of Ancient Marine Reptiles. Systematic Biology.
• Rowe, T. B., C. A. Brochu, M. Colbert, and J. W. Merck, Jr, K. Kishi, E. Saglamer, and S. Warren. 1999. Introduction. In Cranial Morphology of Alligator mississippiensis and Phylogeny of Alligatoroidea. Rowe, T. B., C. A. Brochu, and K. Kishi, Eds. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 6, 19(2) Supplement., 1-8.
• Sumrall, C. D., C. A. Brochu, J. W. Merck, Jr. 2001 . Majority-rule consensus and bootstrap bias - global lability and regional resolution. Paleobiology, 27(2), 254-261.

Digital Publications

• Merck, J. W., Jr., M. Colbert, K. Kishi, T. B. Rowe 1998. The Dinosaur Cladogram. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Merck, J. W., Jr., M. Colbert, T. B. Rowe. 1998. Dinosaur Drill Instructor. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Colbert, M., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., T. B. Rowe. 1998. The Vertebrate Cladogram. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Colbert, M., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., T. B. Rowe. 1998. The Vertebrate Cladogram. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Colbert, M., K. Kishi, T. B. Rowe, J. W. Merck, Jr. 1998. Plate-Tectonics. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Kishi, K., M. Colbert, T. B. Rowe, J. W. Merck, Jr. 1998. Systematics. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Kishi, K., M. Colbert, J. W. Merck, Jr., T. B. Rowe, 1998. Dinosaur Flash-Cards. In The Age of Dinosaurs, (Interactive CD-ROM) Rowe, T., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., and M. Colbert Eds. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Rowe, T. B., Brochu, C. A., K. Kishi, J. W. Merck, Jr., M. Colbert, E. Saglamer, S. Warren. 1999. Alligator: Digital Atlas of the Skull, (Interactive CD-ROM) Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 6, 19(2) Supplement.

Manuscripts in Preparation

• Merck, J. W., Jr. Should multistate morphological characters ever be ordered? Results of a simulation study. In preparation.
• Merck, J. W., Jr. Euryapsid monophyly and the phylogeny of Sauria. In preparation.

Invited Lectures

• The Marine Reptiles of the Mesozoic: Phylogeny and Ecology. Presented to the Austin Paleontological Society, May, 1996.
• An introduction to phylogenetic systematics. Presented to the Austin Paleontological Society, August, 1996.
• Euryapsid Phylogeny - Total evidence and the challenge of morphological diversity. Presented to the Geology Department of the Field Museum of Natural History, December, 1998.
• Euryapsid Monophyly and the Origin of Turtles. Presented to the Paleontological Society of Washington, November, 1999.
• Feathered Dinosaurs and Major Patterns of Amniote Evolution. Presented to the Department of Anatomy of Howard University, December, 1999.
• Putting the scientific method into biological taxonomy - Teaching the phylogenetic System. Presented to the National Convention of the National Association of Biology Teachers, October, 2000.
• Teaching the one-hour colloquium. Presented to the Summer Faculty Institute of College Park Scholars, University of Maryland, College Park, June, 2002.
• Biostratigraphy and systematics of euryapsids - an instance of reciprocal illumination. Presented to the Geological Soceity of Washington, February 2003.
• Identifying Bad Ideas: Critical Thinking for College Students. Presented to graduate student orientation of the University of Maryland Center for Teaching Excellence, August 2004.

References

• Dr. Timothy Rowe
  Department of Geological Sciences,
  The University of Texas at Austin,
  Austin TX 78712.
  512-471-1725
  rowe@mail.utexas.edu

• Dr. Thomas R. Holtz
  Geology Department,
  The University of Maryland, College Park
  College Park, MD 20742
  301-405-4084
  tholtz@geol.umd.edu

• Dr. Randall Marrett
  Department of Geological Sciences,
  The University of Texas at Austin,
  Austin TX 78712.
  512-471-2113
  marrett@mail.utexas.edu

• Dr. Ernest Lundelius
  Department of Geological Sciences,
  The University of Texas at Austin,
  Austin TX 78712.
  512-471-6088
  erniel@mail.utexas.edu

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(Last updated 1-03.)