Megafauna of the Midwest

This is a co-sponsored program in collaboration with Kenosha Public Museums and the History Center

During the Ice Age, North America was a very different place, and roaming across the upper Midwest was a bit more than just your random woolly mammoth. As the Earth warmed and glaciers receded, some of these animals could cope but many others couldn’t, leading to our most recent mass extinction.

In this presentation, local educator Nick Wiersum discusses some of the amazing creatures that we, until very recently, shared our region with. Nick also explains some of the most significant discoveries that have been found in our area, including the discovery of the Schaefer mammoth, which work to shed light on our earliest local human ancestry.

Nick Wiersum is a museum educator and paleontologist, with a B.S. from UW-Madison in Zoology and over 15 years of experience both in the field and at museums. He has spoken at several national conferences including the American Alliance of Museums and the National Science Teachers Association, and is the Curator of Natural Science Education at the Kenosha Public Museums, a Smithsonian Affiliate.