Monday, May 19, 2014

Exploring Ashfall

So I don't officially have to be at Ashfall until tomorrow. And officially, I don't start work until the next day. But I couldn't help it, I really wanted to see this place. So I drove up there, not getting there until after it was closed. That was fine, I pretty much expected that. I was just trying to get my bearings and maybe a picture with the sign before work started.
So here is my work place for the next three months. I made it alive. Below on the left is the fossil prep lab, with a window open to the public so that the all important role of paleontology (that is, education about science) is fulfilled. Unfortunately the things in the lab are mostly from other sites because Ashfall is committed to preserving its own site (that is, leaving everything in the ground.) But its a pretty nice lab, I've gotta say. Also, on the right is the rhino barn, which was built over the site so as to protect it and the workers and make it available to the public. 

So how did I get in to see the lab, you may ask? Well, it was actually a little awkward. Rick Otto, who runs the place, pulled up about the time I jumped off my car because he had to be there after hours for a meeting. I was busted.
"Well," he said. "First I thought you were just a tourist. Then I recognized you from the I.D. photo you sent us."
Very much busted.
In addition, pictures to come, but the cabin I am staying in... a definite improvement over the college dorm. Going back in the fall may be a bit of a challenge. I got to go ahead, see the room, and (always important...) get my computer hooked up to the internet, as well as drop my stuff, since I got to check in when Rick showed up. Awkward, but useful. Looking forward to starting work and meeting the other interns!

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My Story (Very briefly...)

Lots of people claim that they wanted to be paleontologists at the age of 3. So did I. The problem is, I never really grew out of it. My third birthday party had dinosaurs. Everywhere. I grew up digging in fossil dirt from Aurora, NC, looking for coral and shark teeth. I practically lived at my local science museums (and still do, only now I get to do research, fossil preparation, and work in collections!) When local paleontologists discovered a dinosaur with a "fossilized heart" (no longer considered such) when I was little, I got to meet the man who led the work. And then, years later a dinosaur bone with soft tissue turned up. I was officially hooked.
No longer was I dreaming about dinosaurs. I was actively pursuing the science behind prehistoric creatures. I didn't want to read about it, I wanted in on the action. So I started working at the museum, and finally going on my own adventures. And thus, I needed a place to share them and maybe inspire others the way I was inspired. I have gone from watching fossils be prepared from one side of the glass at the museum to working on them on the inside of the glass. I am a student working toward my goal. I can finally start to call myself a paleontologist.