Paleontologist Joseph “Paleo Joe” Kchodl will speak Thursday, March 18, to students at St. Ignace Middle School. The assembly is open to the public as well as students, and will begin at 1 p.m. Any visitors are asked to call the middle school office in advance to report that they will attend.

Mr. Kchodl will bring a selection of fossils and artifacts from digs around the world and introduce students to animals and plants that have been extinct for millions of years.

A professional educator who travels around to schools and libraries teaching paleontology, he also participates in digs and helped discover an 11-million-year-old rhinoceros in Nebraska, and the remains of a 60-foot-long Camerasaurus in Utah. He has also written children's books such as “Hidden Dinosaur,” and the series “PaleoJoe's Dinosaur Detective Club.”