You are all invited to the Red Deer River Naturalists October Monthly Meeting Speaker Series
Speaker: Mark Powers
Topic: Albertosaurus and the Great Tyrannosaur “Family”
When: October 22, 2026 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Held at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre, 6300 45 Ave, Red Deer, AB T4N 3M4, in the Theatre room.
Mark Powers began his academic journey at Red Deer Polytechnic (formerly Red Deer College). He earned a BSc specializing in palaeontology at the University of Alberta, followed by an MSc with Dr. Philip Currie. He then completed a PhD with Dr. Michael Caldwell on snake evolution during and after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. While pursuing his doctorate, he continued researching dinosaurs and collaborated internationally to revise Tyrannosaur systematics. This work led to the recognition of at least three new Tyrannosaur species, including a new Albertosaurus. Related fieldwork drew the BBC to Powers and his colleagues, and the life of a newly discovered Albertosaurus specimen was brought to the screen in Walking with Dinosaurs (2025).

Mark Powers with Cast of new Tyrannosaur species