Academy Town Square
Dinosaurs in Your Backyard: Hadrosaurus foulkii and Other Local Marvels
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
6-7:30 p.m.
6 p.m. Learn about Academy fossils and their preservation at Science Live
6:30 p.m. Panel discussion moderated by WHYY's Maiken Scott
Panelists: Bill Gallagher, PhD, author of “When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey,” and Grace Goetcheus, PhD, a dinosaur paleontologist and science educator
Haddy has returned! The new mount of Hadrosaurus foulkii, the first dinosaur skeleton ever publicly displayed in the world, is back on view in the Academy of Natural Science’s Dinosaur Hall.
And this dinosaur is significant for our region in more ways than one!
Hadrosaurus foulkii was excavated in 1858 in Haddonfield, New Jersey, by Academy scientists Joseph Leidy and William Parker Foulke after large bones were found in a farmer’s marl pit (a pit that was a source for agricultural fertilizer). At the time, the fossil was considered nearly complete, with only the skull missing. Studying the pelvis and the four-foot thigh bone, Leidy made a groundbreaking observation: Hadrosaurus walked on two legs and would have stretched about 25 feet in length.
With this revolutionary insight, the British artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins created a full cast of the skeleton under Leidy’s direction. And in 1868, the Academy became the first institution in the world where the public could see a mounted dinosaur on display. Lines circled the block!
While Hadrosaurus foulkii was the first dinosaur in the group to be discovered, many more species of hadrosaurids are known today. They get their nickname as the “duck-billed” dinosaurs from their wide and flat snouts. The plant-eater was later declared New Jersey’s official state dinosaur, and the site where it was discovered is a national historic landmark. Although hadrosaurids originated in North America, their movements across land bridges resulted in their eventual presence on all seven continents.
To kick off the conversation, Bill Gallagher will give a short presentation on Hadrosaurus, the history of its discovery, the Academy scientists involved and why Hadrosaurus was historically significant in the early development of dinosaur paleontology. During the discussion to follow, Grace Goetcheus will help us bring to life by discussing our current understanding of Cretaceous dinosaurs, their lifestyle and behaviors, and the world they lived in.
Panelists
Bill Gallagher, PhD
Bill Gallagher started his first job at the Academy of Natural Sciences as a projectionist for the Education Department when he was in high school. Subsequently, he worked for the Academy as a student assistant, research assistant, teacher/naturalist and field trip leader for the Expeditions for Everyone program while in college. Gallagher received a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, a master’s from Rowan, and a PhD in geology from the University of Pennsylvania. He was Registrar and Assistant Curator of Natural History at the New Jersey State Museum, where he oversaw a natural history collection of over 1 million specimens, designed and constructed paleontological exhibits, taught numerous classes and engaged in a wide-ranging field program of fossil collecting and research.
Gallagher held joint teaching appointments during this time with the University of Pennsylvania as Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Sciences, at Rutgers University as Lecturer in Paleontology, at Drexel University as Adjunct Professor in the Biological Sciences, and as an adjunct instructor for the ANS/ Drexel University course in Field Geology. For the last 19 years he has been the full-time and adjunct assistant professor of paleontology at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He is the author of 75 scientific papers, abstracts and the popular book “When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey,” published by Rutgers Press.
Grace Goetcheus Rohr, PhD
Grace Goetcheus Rohr is a dinosaur paleontologist and science educator who earned her PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Earth Systems from Drexel University this past summer. Her research focuses on the pathologies (injury and disease) of sauropod dinosaurs and their biomechanical and paleobiological implications. Goetcheus Rohr has served as an Adjunct Professor in the BEES Department at Drexel and an Exhibit Consultant for Dino Hall at the Academy of Natural Sciences. She is currently teaching Biology, Anatomy and Physiology at the Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square. She has also participated in paleontological digs and fieldwork in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, right around where Hadrosaurus foulkii was originally found!
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