Douglas A. Lawson
Encyclopedia
Douglas A. Lawson is a geologist
, paleontologist, and computer scientist
.
In 1971, Lawson discovered a partial wing (fragments of huge wing bones imbedded in a
sandstone outcropping) of what he later named Quetzalcoatlus
, a pterosaur
, in Texas' Big Bend National Park
. Lawson found the remains of the giant pterosaur while searching for the bones of titanosaur
sauropods such as Alamosaurus
. At the time of reporting of its discovery (1975) Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying creature known.
A fellow researcher challenged Lawson's estimates of Quetzalcoatlus' wing architecture dimensions. Lawson responded by demonstrating that, while his estimates were inconsistent with those of modern-day birds, they were, in fact, consistent with extrapolations of other pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus
antiquus.
Lawson’s discovery of the remains of Quetzalcoatlus northropi caused scientists to rethink both the evolution of flight and the habitats of giant fliers.
In 2010, the U.S. National Park Service
describes Quetzalcoatlus as the world's second largest known flying creature. Lawson appears in Sir David Attenborough's motion picture documentary, Flying Monsters 3D (2011), discussing Quetzalcoatlus' impressive wingspan and how estimates of that wingspan changed over time.
Lawson's interest in evolving systems and swarming led him to develop as a computer scientist. For Southwest Airlines
, Lawson used evolutionary computation methods to evaluate alternate means of passengers boarding aircraft. Based upon the behavior of ants, Lawson determined whether assigned seating would be faster than Southwest's "festival seating" by creating an ant-based routing
computer simulation of passengers boarding a plane, and then trying each pattern..
Additionally, Lawson has used used ant-based routing in assigning aircraft arrivals to airport gates. At Southwest Airlines a software program uses swarm theory, or swarm intelligence—the idea that a colony of ants works better than one alone. "People don't like being only 500 yards away from a gate and having to sit out there until another aircraft leaves." "Each pilot or plane acts like an ant searching for the best airport gate. "The pilot learns from his experience what's the best for him, and it turns out that that's the best solution for the airline," Dr. Douglas A. Lawson explains. As a result, the "colony" of pilots always go to gates they can arrive and depart quickly. The program can even alert a pilot of plane back-ups before they happen. "We can anticipate that it's going to happen, so we'll have a gate available," Dr. Lawson says
Lawson was one of 100 alumni featured in Celebrating 100 Years: 1910-2010 marking the 100th anniversary of the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin
. He was among individuals selected to represent the Jackson School of Geosciences
.
of the Tornillo Formation in Big Bend National Park
, Texas. During his study of this Late Cretaceous intermontane basin community, he discovered the fossil remains of the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus Northropi
, which he named in honor of John K. Northrop because of its similarity to Northrop's flying wing
aircraft design.
While at the University of California, he continued his synecological studies emphasizing the stability analysis of evolving trophic networks. Lawson incorporated biogeographic information in the standard community matrix
by producing a symmetrical matrix from the correlation coefficient matrix of the spatial distribution of individual species members. This augmented community matrix provided a probabilistic trophic network.
Lawson also clearly showed that since the coefficients of the characteristic equation represented the principal minor of the network matrix and loop analysis was basically the calculation of all possible principal minors that the extraction of the eigenvectors provided the same stability analysis with little computational effort. These were significant insights since the standard community matrix did capture the detailed community structure needed for studying evolving systems, and since ecosystems that extend over millions of years can involve many tens of species complete loop analysis (based upon Richard Levins
' loop analysis method) that at the time required the use of supercomputers.
Lawson taught paleontology at Louisiana State University
.
Working for Philips, Arco, and as a consultant, Lawson mapped out the ancient environments of marine invertebrates. "To me it was mapping out the movement of habitats," says Lawson. "To the oil industry, it was reservoir characterization," a process that helps geologists locate oil and gas.
While continuing his studying of habitat evolution as an oil industry consultant, he invented a patentable method for 3-dimensional mapping habitat facies.
At Southwest Airlines, Dr. Lawson has described his work in terms of customer service. "I'm a living systems engineer. I try to improve the service experience for our customers by using living systems principles. The components that make up our customer service experience, like the actual number of service desks at the airport, or the number of agents ready to take care of our people, or the actual functions they perform and when...all must be as reactive to the world around them as the customer. And people never act the same way in the same setting. Their behavior is influenced by their surroundings. We've tried, through computer simulation, to convert customer insights about our service into living things, so to speak, things that have memories, that we can quantify into costs. Those things, those insights must survive on their own too."
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, paleontologist, and computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
.
In 1971, Lawson discovered a partial wing (fragments of huge wing bones imbedded in a
sandstone outcropping) of what he later named Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
, a pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
, in Texas' Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Texas. Big Bend has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, which includes more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56...
. Lawson found the remains of the giant pterosaur while searching for the bones of titanosaur
Titanosaur
Titanosaurs were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, which included Saltasaurus and Isisaurus. It includes some of the heaviest creatures ever to walk the earth, such as Argentinosaurus and Paralititan — which some believe have weighed up to 100 tonnes...
sauropods such as Alamosaurus
Alamosaurus
Alamosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. It was a large quadrupedal herbivore. Isolated vertebrae and limb bones indicate that it reached sizes comparable to Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus, which would make it the...
. At the time of reporting of its discovery (1975) Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying creature known.
A fellow researcher challenged Lawson's estimates of Quetzalcoatlus' wing architecture dimensions. Lawson responded by demonstrating that, while his estimates were inconsistent with those of modern-day birds, they were, in fact, consistent with extrapolations of other pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus
Pterodactylus
Pterodactylus is a genus of pterosaurs, whose members are popularly known as pterodactyls. It was the first to be named and identified as a flying reptile...
antiquus.
Lawson’s discovery of the remains of Quetzalcoatlus northropi caused scientists to rethink both the evolution of flight and the habitats of giant fliers.
In 2010, the U.S. National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
describes Quetzalcoatlus as the world's second largest known flying creature. Lawson appears in Sir David Attenborough's motion picture documentary, Flying Monsters 3D (2011), discussing Quetzalcoatlus' impressive wingspan and how estimates of that wingspan changed over time.
Lawson's interest in evolving systems and swarming led him to develop as a computer scientist. For Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
, Lawson used evolutionary computation methods to evaluate alternate means of passengers boarding aircraft. Based upon the behavior of ants, Lawson determined whether assigned seating would be faster than Southwest's "festival seating" by creating an ant-based routing
Swarm intelligence
Swarm intelligence is the collective behaviour of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence...
computer simulation of passengers boarding a plane, and then trying each pattern..
Additionally, Lawson has used used ant-based routing in assigning aircraft arrivals to airport gates. At Southwest Airlines a software program uses swarm theory, or swarm intelligence—the idea that a colony of ants works better than one alone. "People don't like being only 500 yards away from a gate and having to sit out there until another aircraft leaves." "Each pilot or plane acts like an ant searching for the best airport gate. "The pilot learns from his experience what's the best for him, and it turns out that that's the best solution for the airline," Dr. Douglas A. Lawson explains. As a result, the "colony" of pilots always go to gates they can arrive and depart quickly. The program can even alert a pilot of plane back-ups before they happen. "We can anticipate that it's going to happen, so we'll have a gate available," Dr. Lawson says
Lawson was one of 100 alumni featured in Celebrating 100 Years: 1910-2010 marking the 100th anniversary of the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. He was among individuals selected to represent the Jackson School of Geosciences
Jackson School of Geosciences
The Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin unites the Department of Geological Sciences with two research units, the Institute for Geophysics and the Bureau of Economic Geology....
.
Education
- MS in Geological Sciences, 1972, University of Texas (Austin)
- PhD in Paleontology, 1977, University of California (Berkeley)
Career
Lawson began his synecological research with working on his Masters Degree studying the paleoecologyPaleoecology
Paleoecology uses data from fossils and subfossils to reconstruct the ecosystems of the past. It involves the study of fossil organisms and their associated remains, including their life cycle, living interactions, natural environment, and manner of death and burial to reconstruct the...
of the Tornillo Formation in Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Texas. Big Bend has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, which includes more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56...
, Texas. During his study of this Late Cretaceous intermontane basin community, he discovered the fossil remains of the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus Northropi
Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
, which he named in honor of John K. Northrop because of its similarity to Northrop's flying wing
Flying wing
A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft which has no definite fuselage, with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure....
aircraft design.
While at the University of California, he continued his synecological studies emphasizing the stability analysis of evolving trophic networks. Lawson incorporated biogeographic information in the standard community matrix
Community matrix
In mathematical biology, the community matrix is the linearization of the Lotka–Volterra equation at an equilibrium point. The eigenvalues of the community matrix determine the stability of the equilibrium point....
by producing a symmetrical matrix from the correlation coefficient matrix of the spatial distribution of individual species members. This augmented community matrix provided a probabilistic trophic network.
Lawson also clearly showed that since the coefficients of the characteristic equation represented the principal minor of the network matrix and loop analysis was basically the calculation of all possible principal minors that the extraction of the eigenvectors provided the same stability analysis with little computational effort. These were significant insights since the standard community matrix did capture the detailed community structure needed for studying evolving systems, and since ecosystems that extend over millions of years can involve many tens of species complete loop analysis (based upon Richard Levins
Richard Levins
Richard "Dick" Levins is a mathematical ecologist, and political activist. He is best known for his work on evolution in changing environments....
' loop analysis method) that at the time required the use of supercomputers.
Lawson taught paleontology at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
.
Working for Philips, Arco, and as a consultant, Lawson mapped out the ancient environments of marine invertebrates. "To me it was mapping out the movement of habitats," says Lawson. "To the oil industry, it was reservoir characterization," a process that helps geologists locate oil and gas.
While continuing his studying of habitat evolution as an oil industry consultant, he invented a patentable method for 3-dimensional mapping habitat facies.
At Southwest Airlines, Dr. Lawson has described his work in terms of customer service. "I'm a living systems engineer. I try to improve the service experience for our customers by using living systems principles. The components that make up our customer service experience, like the actual number of service desks at the airport, or the number of agents ready to take care of our people, or the actual functions they perform and when...all must be as reactive to the world around them as the customer. And people never act the same way in the same setting. Their behavior is influenced by their surroundings. We've tried, through computer simulation, to convert customer insights about our service into living things, so to speak, things that have memories, that we can quantify into costs. Those things, those insights must survive on their own too."
Publications
- Lawson, D. A. 1972. Paleoecology of the Tornillo Formation, Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas [M.S. Thesis]: Austin, University of Texas, 182p.
- Lawson, Douglas A. 1975. "Pterosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of West Texas: Discovery of the Largest Flying Creature." Science, 187: 947-948.
- Lawson, Douglas A. 1975. "Could Pterosaurs Fly?" Science 188: 676-677.
- Lawson, D. A. 1976. Tyrannosaurus and Torosaurus: Maestrichtian dinosaurs from Trans-Pecos, Texas. Journal of Paleontology 50(1): 158-164.
- Lawson, D.A., 1977, Change in marine-mollusk communities during the Middle Eocene in the Pacific Coast. Dissertation (University of California, Berkeley.)
- Lawson, D. A., and M. J. Novacek. 1981. Structure and change in three Eocene invertebrate (primarily molluscan) communities from nearshore marine environments. In A. Boucot and W. B. N. Berry (eds.), Communities of the Past. Proc. Symposium, Paleo. Convention of North America, II. Stroudsburg, Dowden, Hutchison, and Ross.
- Lawson, D. A. 1991. Interwell Geology from Geophysical Data. In Reservoir Characterization II. ed. Lake, L. W., Carroll, H. B., and Wesson, T. C. New York: Academic Press, Inc.