It’s field season for dinosaur hunters across North America, which means bug bites, back aches, and dirt, dirt EVERYWHERE, for palaeontologists.
Field work is what many think of as the big appeal of being a palaeontologist- the adventure of the unknown, the thrill of discovery, the glory you take home. When David Evans, Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum says “I’m living out every 7 year old’s dream” this is what they’re dreaming of.
Great day working a new site in Lost River today. #SADP2015 pic.twitter.com/Rvrim33p17
— Derek Larson (@thereal_dlarson) July 23, 2015
But it’s not *quite* that simple.
Adventure, Discovery, And Glory. Maybe.
Adventure often means putting up electric fences to keep out hungry polar bars, or relieving your self in plastic tents. Discovery more likely means unearthing a new find… on the last day, in time to cover it for next year. Glory means getting out with your sanity.
Getting the last jackets from Wendiceratops quarry. Getting ready to drag a 180kg block about a km. @ROMPalaeo #SADP pic.twitter.com/G4FbgJYqz2
— Ian Macdonald (@Mac_canadensis) July 25, 2015
Field work is stinky and sticky with no shower but the rain you don’t want but surely will get if there’s a chance it could flood the nice ditch you dug.
Field work is bug bites on parts of your body that are covered by too many pieces of clothing to possibly be pierced by a mosquito.
Field work is your knees aching so much you wish you had brought knee pads for your knee pads.
And field work isn’t quick business either- it can take several field seasons to fully excavate your find, let alone publish your work. For context, Wendiceratops, the ROM’s newest dinosaur put on display in early 2015, was discovered in 2010, and was followed by 4 summers of back breaking labour and recovery.
The Joy Of Field Work
But field work is also the quintessential joy of a palaeontologist. It’s the mud under your nails that represent countless hours uncovering a new find. It’s the bug bites and bruises that showcase the kilometers of hiking across uneven terrain. And the aches and and pains? It’s just what comes with living out your childhood dream.
And, years later, once your find is finally published for the world to learn from, the years spent painstakingly excavating, endlessly researching, and writing, writing, writing, comes to fruition with a new chapter added to the scientific library.
Derek Larson, currently in the home stretch of his PhD, is out in the field this summer, with David Evans and Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project. Before he left he told me it was important to find time in the field every year, to stay close to his roots. Danielle Dufault, one of the world’s great scientific artists who is always in the middle of some illustrated masterpiece, is also heading out to Alberta, “field work is exciting, it keeps me inspired”.
Sometimes spooning is the only way to fit everyone in the quarry. @ROMPalaeo #ROMdinos #ROMtana pic.twitter.com/Ye5JwEMiy8
— Ian Macdonald (@Mac_canadensis) July 11, 2015
It’s all hands on deck, and the ROM Palaeo team is exhilarated to be hunting for dinosaurs again, no matter the aches and pains, bug bites, and mud that may lie in their way.
More on the 2015 field season
Stay up to date with the Museum’s vertebrate team currently digging up in Southern Alberta (#sadp2015) and the invertebrate team in British Colombia by following them on Twitter @ROMpalaeo!
You can also follow along with Royal Tyrrell Museum @ #livefromthefield, and the Museum of Nature #CMNPalaeo for even more updates from fossil field season!
An image credit and a thank you
Image by David Evans, 2014.
A big thank you to the ROM Palaeontology Department for always sharing their stories of fieldwork with me.
By @kironcmukherjee. Last update: June 26th, 2015.
