Ice Age Florida

Ice Age Florida: In Story and Art

By: Robert W. Sinibaldi and illustrated by Hermann Trappman

Florida's Ice Age was vastly different from what the North experienced. Ice Age Florida: In Story and Art investigates and illustrates the fascinating fossil record and history of the Gulf Coast compared to what most envision when the term Ice Age comes up. The author takes the reader along on his initial and developing interest in fossil diving and details his insatiable curiosity about the fauna of Florida's Ice Age, all vividly represented by the amazing artwork of Hermann Trappman.

About the Author

In 1993, Robert W. Sinibaldi began diving for fossils, and by 1998 he wrote Fossil Diving in Florida's Waters, a book used by many Gulf Coast dive shops to certify divers interested in underwater paleontology. In 2001 he was elected President of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club, the world's largest amateur paleontological association at the time; he remains on their board of directors to this date. Over the years he has donated hundreds of fossils to the Florida Museum of Natural History's Vertebrate Paleontology Department for study, and to add to their permanent collections. In 1999, Sinibaldi was the only amateur invited to speak at the University of Florida's Paleofest Conference.

In 2011, Sinibaldi wrote What Your Fossils Can Tell You: Vertebrate Morphology, Pathology, and Cultural Modification, which was published by the University of Florida Press. This textbook broke down the technical scientific literature in paleontology and made it accessible to the avid amateur and undergraduate paleontologists. Sinibaldi has traveled throughout the state of Florida giving lectures at paleontological societies, museums, and libraries. He has published more than 400 book reviews over the past twenty-five years in various fossil newsletters. In 2012, Sinibaldi received the prestigious Howard Converse Award from the University of Florida's Vertebrate Paleontology Department for his contributions to the field.

By profession Sinibaldi was an adapted physical education teacher and awarded the National PE Teacher of the Year in 2011 for his work with students with special needs. He has since retired and focuses full-time on paleontological pursuits. He has published more than fifty professional journal articles in his field of exceptional child education and has presented well over 100 times at district, state, and national level on both exceptional child education, physical education, and as a motivational "Keynote" speaker.

About the Artist

In 1978 Hermann Trappman spent nine months studying drawing and oil painting in the Haus der Kunst (House of Arts) in Munich, Germany. After his return to the US, Hermann began teaching sculpting at the St. Petersburg Art Center and adult education classes at local city centers. His interest in sculptural anatomy led him to the county medical examiner's office where he first studied and then worked in forensic reconstruction. His background offered him the credentials and opportunity to work as a scientific, anthropological, and archaeological illustrator. He was the graphic illustrator for the Florida Frontier Gazette and recent Trail of Florida Indian Heritage brochures. His interpretive illustrations of Florida's First People are exhibited in museums all over southeastern United States. He created a series of illustrations for TUSKS! Ice Age Florida Mammoths and Mastodons, an exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History at Powell Hall in Gainesville, Florida.

Through the Florida Humanities Council, Hermann was a guest lecturer at the Florida Center for Teachers annual seminars on Archaeology and the Community offered to Florida's teachers of the year. In 2009, Superintendent of DeSoto National Memorial Scott Pardue, commissioned Hermann to create a series of graphics portraying the DeSoto Expedition for their Junior Ranger Activity Book. The boo

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