The Paleontological Research Institution selected Dr. Jim Miller, emeritus professor of geology at Missouri State University, as the 2013 recipient of the Gilbert Harris Award. Miller will receive the award Oct. 28 at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Denver.
Miller’s contributions to the field began with his work with conodonts, a Paleozoic tooth-like microfossil derived from an extinct marine animal. He established the first Cambrian and oldest North American conodont zonation based on collections from western Utah. He extended his reach into overall Cambrian/Ordovician stratigraphy, trilobite and brachiopod stratigraphy, using fossils to date meteorite impact structures and other related fields.
Miller has had three fossils named for him: a new species of fossil genus named Chasbellus milleri, trilobite; Eukteanochiton milleri, a mollusk; and Notchpeakia milleri, another trilobite. All three have been discovered in the same interval of sedimentary rock, the Notch Peak Limestone.
Since 1993, PRI has presented the Gilbert Harris Award annually to an individual who has demonstrated a career commitment to excellence in systematic paleontology.