Monday, June 23, 2014

Microscope!

Not saying that I don't like microfossils, but it is definitely more exciting to have a way to see them up close and show people who walk up what exactly you are working on. So after talking to Rick, kicking my computer into airplane mode so as not to kill the battery, and searching some of the drawers in the lab, I made a small addition to the Discovery Shelter for the day. It made for a nice little experiment, and honestly I think I'm going to stick with it.

A couple of Christmas's ago, I got a small USB low-power microscope. It was one of the things that I insisted on taking with me to college (along with the dinosaur books, National Geographic CD set, and geologic timeline poster.) Yes, it made it home, but no, I wasn't able to bring it with me here. Please understand, my microscope is easily one of my favorite toys, in a sense. I know, I'm a science nerd. If you didn't figure that out from me travelling half away across the country multiple times for paleontology... well, at least we got you caught up. Anyway, the more I worked at the Discovery Shelter sorting tiny microfossils, the more I really, really wanted my microscope so that I could see what I was doing and show people what I was working on by turning my computer screen toward them.
And so, after bringing up this to Rick, asking what he thought of the idea of me getting someone back home to send my microscope, he pulled out one exactly like mine. And plugging it into the computer, we found that the software that I already had downloaded recognized it.

Perfect.

So, meet the newest addition to my weekly trek up to the Discovery Shelter (or, as I call it, Siberia for the interns on account of it being on the edge of the park and most visitors just walking past it), consisting of a funny looking cylinder and a laptop the weight of a brick (thank you, NCSU.) Hopefully my new toy here will be enough to make people stop and ask what I'm working on instead of running right over to look at the modern deer bones. If not, at least it will be easier to see what I'm doing.

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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.