Homer Montgomery, Ph.D.

Dr. Montgomery has published research mostly in the disciplines of geology, paleoecology, and paleogeography. His most prominent work helped shape our understanding of the origin and assembly of various terranes on the Caribbean Plate. Two educational papers explore practices in earth science-oriented classes. Presently he is completing work on the third of a trilogy of paleoecology papers centered on richly fossiliferous intervals at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Each site is located near Big Bend National Park, the region of many of our previous discoveries including the giant Alamosaurus sanjuaneneis in the Perot Museum of Dallas. The first two papers were published in the journal Palaios. This final work details the invertebrate and vertebrate faunas of the ancient Boquillas sea floor.

For the past few years, Dr. Montgomery has been taking cores along the margins of the Gulf of Mexico as part of a paleotempestology (the study of major ancient storms) project. His current graduate student [an SME TA] is exploring cores taken at a section of the Texas coast that was disrupted by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Her project is two-fold, the first is exploring tempest deposits containing exotic beach sand and Gulf plankton that were washed over the barrier island and deposited in back bay muds. These periodic events can be carbon dated by analyzing entrained organic material. This work will reveal a markedly lengthened history of major storms in this area, thus providing a much enhanced view of periodicity. The second part of his work is producing a Problem Based Learning unit derived from her original research.

Education

B.S., Geology, University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., Geology, The University of Texas at Dallas (Dissertation topic: Paleozoic paleogeography of northern Mexico)

Professional Experience

Associate Professor, 2007-2018, The University of Texas at Dallas; retired 2018
Assistant Professor, 2001-2007, The University of Texas at Dallas
CV Honors professor (2008-2018)
Research Scientist/Senior Lecturer in Geosciences and Senior Lecturer in Science Education,1991-2000, The University of Texas at Dallas
Adjunct Professor, 2001, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio
Assistant Professor, geology, 1988-1991, University of Puerto Rico
Teaching and Research Assistant, 1983-1988, The University of Texas at Dallas
Partner in a small, creative corporation, 1976-1982

Editor, 1999-2007, The Texas Science Teacher (biannual circulation approx. 5,000)
Evaluator, 2005-2012, Texas A&M Commerce Teacher Quality Mathematics Institute
Director, 2002-2007, UT Dallas Collaborative for Excellence in Science Teaching
Director, 1995-1998, The University of Texas at Dallas Eisenhower Collaborative for Excellence in Science Teaching
Director, 2004-2005, UT Dallas/Mesquite ISD Cambridge Physics Program
Director, 2004-2005, UT Dallas/Richardson ISD Eighth Grade Program
Director, 2003-2004, UT Dallas/Mesquite ISD Integrated Physics and Chemistry Program

Professional Memberships

Geological Society of America
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Museum of Antigua and Barbuda
Royal Yachting Association, U.K.

Current Projects

Problem Based Learning
Dr. Montgomery is exploring the methodology of Problem Based Learning in Honors classes at UT Dallas. This educational approach is a revolution in classroom design. Montgomery and Donaldson had their first paper about this experience recently published in the Journal of Geoscience Education.

Paleoecology

Following a recent research paper in the journal Palaios detailing the paleoecology of lakes in the Cretaceous Javelina Formation of west Texas, my work describing various discoveries in the underlying Aguja Formation is now complete. Among the discoveries are a lens of microvertebrates and pristine leaves that establish the environment and record the presence of numerous tiny animals that coexisted with the dinosaurs at this site. There is now also substantial evidence for the existence of wildfires. Finally, thin sections from a bed of 24 coprolites (fossilized poop) give us a good indication of what the dinosaurs were eating. Based on bone inclusions, one dinosaur was a meat eater. A final paper may be in the offing describing the paleoecology of the Perot dinosaur site that was discovered so long ago by UT Dallas students and faculty in Big Bend National Park.

Marine Geology (Paleoclimatology)

A long-term project conducted along the margin of the Gulf of Mexico is producing a detailed record of major storm events. Sediment cores taken mostly in bay sediments adjacent barrier islands reveal hurricane events that are far older than the first recorded hurricane in Texas which was in 1527.

Dr. Montgomery is a member of the research team at the Indian Creek archaeology site in Antigua. Under the direction of Dr. Reg Murphy, the project will continue for several years. Montgomery’s specific interest is to assess climatic shifts and catastrophic events such as hurricanes that coordinate with ancient population changes. The data record is found in sediment cores.