JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – When more than 300 billion gallons of floodwater poured over the Coralville Lake spillway in 1993, it washed away several feet of silt, sand, and limestone, revealing fossils dating back millions of years. It would soon be named the Devonian Fossil Gorge.
It’s estimated several million have visited the site in the 32 years since, perhaps no one more than Brian Glenister. A paleontologist, former University of Iowa professor, cephalopod-lover and racquetball enthusiast, Glenister is credited as being a driving force behind the creation and preservation of the site. He often spent his spare time chatting with the many onlookers.
“I’m helpless. When I when I come here, if there’s somebody looking at the rocks, I have to go and talk with them,” Glenister told TV9’s Liz Mathis in 2003…