Gale Arden Bishop, Emeritus Professor of Geology at Georgia Southern University and former Director of both the South Dakota School of Mines and the Georgia Southern Museum, is a Geologist, Paleontologist, Economic Mineralogist, world-renowned sea turtle expert, and a lifelong educator. His research has centered on the Geology of South Dakota, the Geology of Georgia, the study of modern and fossil decapod crustaceans, the study of modern and fossil sea turtles, distribution of heavy mineral black sand deposits of the Western Interior Seaway, and a love of giant, swimming Cretaceous sea monsters. 

Gale has devoted his life to education - first of himself as he earned degrees culminating in a PhD in Geology, next for thousands of college students as a professor at Georgia Southern University and South Dakota School of Mines, simultaneously for thousands of school-age children who visited the museums he directed, then for hundreds of K-12 teachers as he brought them to St Catherines to learn about sea turtle conservation and island ecology, and finally as a mentor and colleague to hundreds of scientists, professional researchers, and passionate amateurs. 

In everything he's done, Gale has maintained a firm grasp on where he got his start - the classrooms of SDSM&T and the windy, late Cretaceous Pierre Shale surrounding The Black Hills of South Dakota. It was in these classrooms that his passion for science, commitment to excellence in research, and interest in connecting the ancient past to the present was awakened. 

Since those days in Rapid City, his contributions have been extensive in the discovery, description, and publication related to 23 new genus, 51 species of decapods and 1 new whale species. The vast Bishop fossil decapod collection - split among SDSM&T, the Smithsonian Institution, The Florida State Museum, University of Texas, and the Smithsonian Institute, and his 115 research papers on subjects ranging from fossil decapods to sea turtle nesting behavior to Hydrology of the Georgia Coast to ghost shrimp on the SE coastlines form part of his legacy. 

No matter where he may roam...there's never a place as familiar as home. Gale has maintained a home in Spearfish, SD, where he endeavors to return, pick up his collecting bag and hand lens, and set off into the field to find more fossils and introduce them to the world.

View Dr. Bishop's Supporting Documents at this Academia link or by clicking any of the buttons below to travel to specific areas of interest.

Honored SDSM&T Centennial 100 Award Winner (1985)
- Nominated by Colleagues -

Ruffin Cup Winner, 1992
- Honored by the GSU College of Arts and Sciences  -
- Awarded to only one person each year - 

The GSU College of Arts and Sciences awards to one person per year a large Silver Cup for: “upholding the spirit of Liberal Arts.” The Award is a large Silver Cup for display during the year of the Award and a commemorative small Silver Cup embossed with the recipient’s name and date of award. The award was established by colleague and friend David Ruffin; then Arts and Sciences split into two Schools and The Ruffin Cup moved with David Ruffin to the School of Arts and Letters. Bishop may be one of the few scientists or mathematicians who were fortunate to honored with winning this award from a Colleague.

Honored by Research Peers with three Patronyms
- new species found and named in Gale's honor - 

Squires, R.L. and R.A.Demetrion, 1992. Paleontology of the Eocene Bateque Formation, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Contributions in Science, Number 4, P1-55, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

1992 Costacopluma bishopi, Vega and Feldmann

Vega, F.J. and R. M. Feldmann. 1992. Occurrence of Costacopluma (Decapoda: Brachyura: Retroplumidae) in the Maastrichtian of Southern Mexico and its Palaeogeographic implications.Annals of the Carnegie Museum 61(2): 133-152.

2017 Carinatus galebishopi Nyborg, Phillips, Van Bakel & Vega 

Nyborg, Torrey, George E. Phillips, Barry Van Bakel, and Francisco J. Vega. 2017. A new genus and species of raninoid crab from the Upper Cretaceous of Mississippi. Palontologische Gesellschaft: DOI 10.1007/s12542-017-0373-5.

Research Areas

North America Areas of Focus

• South Dakota and the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (Decapod research)

• Austin, Texas: completed studies into South Dakota Decapods and earned Ph.D. in Geology

• Georgia Southern University: taught for 28 Years and operated the St. Catherines Island Sea Turtle Program for 26 years, while continuing studies on South Dakota Decapod Crustaceans

• New York City's American Museum of Natural History: named Research Associate in Invertebrate Paleontology and Anthropology; published research in both the AMNH serial publications Novitates and in Anthropological Papers

Global Research Concentrations

• Western Interior Seaway: Decapod research, Field Courses, SD Mosasaur, and Heavy Mineral Research.

• Cretaceous Texas:Cretaceous crabs, lobsters and shrimp, taphonomy and preservation.

• Tepexi, Puebla, Mexico: Cretaceous crabs and Isopods, fossil fish, and taphonomy at Early Cretaceous at Tepexi de Rodrigez, Puebla.

• Coastal Brazil: Research into heavy metal concentration by Ghost Shrimp; St. Catherines Island to the Coast of Brazil; Poster on Nearshore Animals and Traces replicated across Hemispheres; Proposed student exchange Program.

• Western Australia: A proposed projects on Cretaceous sea turtle hatchling crawlways, with Australian National Fisheries and Indigenous Peoples; Protection of Resources.

• Pula, Croatia: Forty-one sea turtle nests described, deposited in a Dinosaur bioturbation bed, and stepped upon by Dinosaura; Proposing as a World Heritage Paleontology Site.

• Mississippi Embayment:  Modern and fossil Crabs, lobsters and shrimp; modern and fossilized sea turtles and their traces, occurrence and distribution of heavy mineral deposits; Modern and fossil whales; Coastal evolution of Georgia and St. Catherines Island, GA.

A Storied Career, Worthy of Deeper Review...

• Gale A. Bishop has published 115 scientific papers on a variety of subjects, contributing greatly to the general body of scientific knowledge for decapod crustaceans describing 23 new genera and 51 new species in some 51 papers, saved and studied loggerhead sea turtles for 26 years, discovered the world's first fossilized sea turtle nest in Colorado (70 Ma), followed by helping find 41 fossilized sea turtle nests at, Pula, Croatia (110 Ma), and continues study of modern and fossil sea turtle nests around the world. 

• Bishop taught a cumulative 58 years at the university level at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, SD, The University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA, and at St. Catherines Island, GA, in The Bell Honors Program at GSU, the  EnviroVet Program at SCI, and was appointed to The Graduate Faculty at GSU and for the USGa.

• Gale Bishop was instrumental in founding the Georgia Southern Museum by securing the donation of a Tylosaurus proriger (Mosasaur) from the Black Hills of South Dakota as its keystone exhibit and followed that by procuring a Middle Eocene fossil, toothed  whale (Georgiacetus vogtlensis) from Nuclear Plant Vogtle in Burke County, Georgia for The Georgia Southern Museum.

• He served as Founding Director of the Georgia Southern University Museum (1980-82) and as Director of The South Dakota School of Mines Museum of Geology and Paleontology for 4 years (2002-2006), and served as Professor of Geology at SDSM&T for 4 years (2002-2006). 

• Bishop co-founded the St. Catherines Island Sea Turtle Program and served as its Co-Director and Director for 26 years (1990-2016)  conserving 3,613 nests, putting 217,546 hatchlings in the Atlantic Ocean, and taught 381 students, 275 of whom were K-12 Teacher Interns that subsequently impacted over 325,000 K-12 students.

• Gale is currently semi-retired and serves as Advisor for Sea Turtle Conservation for Kashmir World Foundation, while actively studying development and preservation of Legacy through his archiving and preservation activities at GSU and as a Research Associate of The American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY) with a dual appointment in Invertebrate Paleontology and in Anthropology.

• Bishop is President of GeoTrec LLC (Iowa), a Science and Science Education Entity supporting his efforts in "Conservation, Education, and Research.". 

...and it's not over yet!

              ... continued research on South Dakota Decapod Crustacea

            ... continued research on ancient sea turtle nesting

            ... continued Sea Turtle Conservation efforts throughout the world

           ... continued efforts at reforming scientific education       

           ... continued work visualization & legacy

The story continues...please drop by again soon to see what Dr. Bishop is up to...