Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Paleo Project Challenge 2010: The Final Reckoning

Okay, folks. . .you've had three months and plenty of reminders and warnings. With that, the 2010 Paleo Project Challenge has drawn to a close. It's time to put down your pencils and hand in your tests.

What's that, you say?

You're not quite finished?

Well, here's your chance to bask in the abject humiliation of not finishing a project by the agreed upon deadline (don't worry, I'm feeling the warm glow, too). Or, if you're Dave Hone (my partner in founding and publicizing the PPC) and many of the rest of you, you can bask in the glory of advancing science. Or at the very least, not doing it any major harm.

I purposefully set my sights quite high for this one. Just like last year, I hit one square on (in fact, the reviews just came back!), and the other is going to need some work. My New Year's Resolution: don't let it be hanging around this time next year.

Below, I've given an updated list for the PPC. Those folks who are finished are marked in a congratulatory blue. The rest. . .are so close! If you completed your entry for the PPC (or didn't), drop a line in the comments, so I can mark it here! I'll be updating this entry for the next seven days.

Participants in the Paleo Project Challenge
Andy the Micropaleontologist - submit foram macroevolution paper; write draft of clade shape paper
Anonymous - find job; paper for Paleobiology; prep alligator fossil
Brian Beatty - paper on meningeal ossification in cetaceans
Robert Boessenecker
- finished first draft of master's thesis
Martin Brazeau -
finish redescription Ptomacanthus anglicus and include updated matrix
Andrea Cau
- describe new theropod remains from north Africa
John Conway
- finish Heterodontosaurus painting
DeinonychusDinosaur
- restoration of Dryptosaurus [finished]
Andy Farke
- finish paper for ODP [started!]; finish paper on ceratopsian anatomy [finished!]
Nick Gardner
- submitted grant for Youngina part II
Casey Holliday
- either a new croc species description or paper related to frontoparietal fossae [sent to coauthors]
Dave Hone - the necks paper [finished]
Jason
- finish descriptions for Katian graptolite systematic paper.
David Maas
- Illustrating Mallison's Kentrosaurus [so close!]
Heinrich Mallison - finish Plateosaurus CAE paper; sauropod rearing paper; sauropodomorph rapid locomotion paper
Jay - finished sauropod description
Jordan Mallon - Anchiceratops manuscript
Anthony Maltese - sharks scavenging on mosasaur paper; Niobrara ammonite paper
Eric Morschauser - finished theropod description
Paleochick - Cloverly paleobotany paper
Patty Ralrick - wrote paper on subfossil mass mortality site
Julie Reizner - submit Einiosaurus histology paper
Manabu Sakamoto - finish Pachyrhinosaurus drawing; finish and submit theropod bite force paper
John Scanlon - write up Oligocene lizards from Riversleigh; process and sort samples from Miocene microsite
Leo Sham - illustrate Raptorex; write cosmetic surgery review paper
Mark Spencer - finish paper critiquing model-based approaches to phylogeny reconstruction
Brian Switek - finished book proposal; polish and submit paper on Alabamornis; paper on Thoracosaurus specimen
David Tana - sign up for GRE; submit 9 pieces to Art Evolved time capsules; overhaul blog
Darren Tanke - finished biography of Oscar Erdman; finished paper on first helicopter lift of a dinosaur specimen; finished extended abstract on Hope Johnson
Mike Taylor - finally finish the Archbishop sauropod description
Matt van Rooijen - finish up Tarbosaurus bite pattern illustrations
Bruce Woolatt - 1/10 scale Quetzalcoatlus northropi flesh restoration

10 comments:

Andrea Cau said...

Not finished because in the meantime new informations have showed that most of the paper needs an update before submission. :-(

Jordan said...

I didn't submit like I had hoped to, but I'm close. The paper is still in the hands of my four co-authors, but I like to think I got my part done. Regardless, the PPC was a big motivator in helping me to get this far.

Anonymous said...

I know I got things done, my MS skull roof paper was sent to coauthors, the other got pushed back for an NSF submission, among other things (including other papers). I stand by my suggestion that this deadline should fall on April 1 rather than New Years.

Casey

davidmaas said...

Well, maybe April 2nd. Otherwise no one will take it seriously ;-)

I'm working on the illustration series, april 2nd is a good new target.

Eric Morschhauser said...

I tossed in a belated project,(finishing up a draft of a theropod specimen description and getting it off to my coauthor) and it was finished about one week into the new year. My coauthor and I are batting it back and forth fairly regularly and I'm hoping for a submission soon.

Anonymous said...

Good to see so many contributors and so much getting done. Rather better than last year's effort which is nice. Lets hope 2011 can top this and still more people get projecting and inspired.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Andy, I'm undeserving of the congratulatory blue. I'm not sure where you got the impression I was done, but I didn't make it!
Matt van Rooijen

Heinrich Mallison said...

I must admit abject failure: none of my three goals was reached :(

Reasons are plenty, at least my thagomizer CEA paper got done, and has been resubmitted after revisions.

Anonymous said...

Andy, I got all three writing projects done, but there is some last minute information on the 1967 helicopter lift paper that came in at New Years so there is some last minute adjusting on that. Thanks for the challeng- these would definately be further behind if I had not signed up. Darren Tanke

Brian Switek said...

I set the bar a little too high. I finished the book proposal, but I did not complete the two papers. Hopefully I will have them done before the next Paleo Project Challenge rolls around!