LECTURES & IDEAS

Voyager Lecture Series

How to Build a Bird, Evolution-Style

Presentation by Jerry Harris

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 // 7:30pm

Optional Social Hour With Like-Minded Friends, Light Snacks And Beverages @ 6:30pm

The Lorraine Boccardo Theater

What makes a bird a bird? And when did all those characteristically birdy features first evolve? The evolutionary origins of birds, and the way that birds were “built” over the course of almost 100 million years, may surprise you!

Dr. Jerry Harris was born at a very early age in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly thereafter, he became enamored with dinosaurs, and his continued fascination with them proves that he’s never quite grown up completely. With a few hiccups along the way, and by continually moving across the country, he has earned B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in the geosciences, focusing on vertebrate paleontology. He has worked at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science; he is currently the Director of Paleontology and a Professor of Geology at Dixie State University and is the scientific advisor to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm in St. George.