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Syracuse University, College of Arts and Sciences

EES Professor Quoted in New York Times

Professor Christopher Junium offered insight regarding a 70 million year old fossil found under the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Part of a fossilized vertebra from what is thought to be a herbivorous dinosaur.
A fragment of a fossilized vertebra, believed to belong to a herbivorous dinosaur, was discovered deep beneath the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. (Credit: Thomas Peipert/Associated Press)

Christopher Junium, associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, was quoted in a New York Times article titled, "Denver Museum Finds a Dinosaur Fossil Under Its Parking Lot." The piece highlighted a surprising discover made by scientists at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A 70-million-year-old dinosaur fossil was found 763 feet beneath the museum’s own parking lot.

The fossil was unearthed during a deep drilling project aimed at exploring geothermal energy options for the museum. Regarding the extraordinary discovery, Junium said: "Poking the Earth with what amounts to a needle and coming up with a dinosaur is more like fiction than reality. Even if the find itself is not that groundbreaking, it is a fun discovery that underscores how much there is to learn when we look at the ground beneath our feet."

Read the New York Times article.

Published: July 14, 2025

Media Contact: asnews@syr.edu

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