CANTON — St. Lawrence University’s Department of Geology will host Jonathan Hendricks, director of publications at the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, to present the annual Susan Caroline Ferguson Memorial Lecture in Geology.

Hendricks will deliver his lecture, titled “Glowing Seashells: Revealing the Neogene History of Tropical American Cone Snails Using Ultraviolet Light,” at 5:30 on Thursday, April 13, in the Bloomer Auditorium, Brown Hall, room 122. The event is free and open to the public.

Cone snails are venomous, tropical marine mollusks, many of which have beautifully patterned shells that have attracted the interests of naturalists and shell collectors for centuries.

This group also has an extensive fossil record, but the ancient shells seemingly lack the intricate coloration patterns that are so useful for differentiating modern species and understanding their relationships. Shining ultraviolet (UV) light on these fossils will sometimes reveals their ancient patterns in dazzling fashion.

These revealed patterns provide important information for understanding the relationships of the ancient species to the modern fauna, and – as will be demonstrated – this is particularly true for tropical American fossils from the Dominican Republic and Panama.

In addition to working at the Paleontological Research Institution, Hendricks is also an adjunct associate professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University.

Prior to arriving at PRI in 2016, he was an associate professor of geology at San Jose State University in California. Much of Hendricks’ current research is focused on the evolutionary history of tropical American cone snails.

Hendricks also leads the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life project, which includes new online field guides to fossils from particular regions as well as an open access online paleontology “textbook” that is currently under development.

The Susan Caroline Ferguson Memorial Lecture in Geology is given yearly to commemorate the life of Susan Ferguson, a St. Lawrence sophomore who tragically lost her life in May 1982. Susan was an enthusiastic student of geology and of her natural surroundings.

At St. Lawrence, she had made many friends, and faculty respected the vitality and curiosity that she brought to the classroom.

Susan’s parents and friends began a memorial fund in her honor in 1982. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson wished that the memory of Susan continue to enrich the entire community.

To that end, the fund has been utilized to bring an exceptional geoscientist to St. Lawrence each academic year to present the Susan Caroline Ferguson Lecture in Geology.

For more information, contact the Department of Geology at 315-229-5851 or visit www.stlawu.edu/geology.