March 17, 1950 – November 25, 2023
Dr. Martin Lockley, a celebrated paleontologist whose work was integral in developing local dinosaur tracksites including the Copper Ridge and Mill Canyon sites, has died.
His achievements span multitudes, from winning the All England Schools Championship in shot put (he was born in the Channel Islands, but moved to England in the early 1960s), earning a PhD from the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, England, and becoming an assistant professor of geology at the University of Colorado Denver. He created the Dinosaur Tracks Museum at the university (open from 1996 to 2012), which displayed thousands of specimens from Colorado and Utah.
In Moab, he was the Science Director at Moab Giants, advisor to the local chapter of the Utah Friends of Paleontology, and author of the monthly “Paleontology Happenings” column in Moab Happenings. He was the principal investigator in the Mill Canyon tracksite just north of town. On Facebook, Moab Giants said, “His legacy will live on forever and he will be always remembered as an extraordinary human being and great friend.”
The local Utah Friends of Palentology chapter said that Lockley had, personally and with the help of volunteers, discovered “many, many sites in Southeastern Utah, and is known for publishing about five dozen significant papers about dinosaur tracksites all over the planet.”
“We are very sad to see him go, and he will be missed, definitely,” UFoP President Lee Shenton said.
