This award provides partial funding for the acquisition of a 4-wheel drive vehicle for use by University of Rhode Island field geologists. The University is committed to providing matching funds for the acquisition and has submitted a maintenance and operation plan that ensures its efficient use. The Principal Investigator and colleagues in the Department of Geology at the University of Rhode Island have an active program of research on the evolution of life in the area of the Gulf of Mexico during the Mesozoic period. Unique early-to-middle-Jurassic- aged vertebrate fossils (including one of the earliest mammals known and rare reptilian and dinosaur forms) and excellent rock exposures are found in northeastern Mexico, and much of the research of the Rhode Island team during the field season is concentrated in Huizachal Canyon, Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains. The remoteness of most of their field area and the geographic breadth to be covered requires reliable transportation.
