#museum30

[dbfenthusiast]

#Museum30 Day 26: Colleague

This business has introduced me to some of the best people and best friends I could have asked for. I don’t have photos of everyone but y’all know who you are.

[phylojennny]

#Museum30 Day 4: Museum Kit

I work in the invertebrate paleontology collection and am still getting a handle on everything that we have in our holdings. What I do know is that we have an extraordinary collection of Paleozoic (541-252 million years ago) #echinoderms (#ancient sea star relatives) and #arthropods (ancient insect, crab, etc. relatives). 

Every time I explore the drawers I am constantly surprised by the amazing #specimens.These drawers hold some specimens very dear to my heart - blastoids! These #extinct creatures were stationary, usually stuck to the sea floor with root like structures. They had a stem that elevated them above the sea floor, so they could breathe and eat without pieces of sand or mud getting inside them. They had a really tightly connected body that looks sort of like an acorn or flower bud! The collection at #UMichPaleo has been cared for by other generations of blastoid workers, which means we have a great collection!

[musingsofahistorymajor]

Hey guys! I'm participating in the #Museum30 photo challenge over on twitter! Go check it out and join in if you can :) My twitter handle is @MuseumGirlSteph

[paleochick]

Hey everyone! . Gracie, @magnifyingzoology, started an awesome 30 day museum photo challenge! Tag your photos with #Museum30! Spread the word and get your institution involved. . #ilovemuseums #museumed #Museum30 #museumsmatter #saturday #scicomm

[phylojennny]

#Museum30 Day 9: Interpretation

This was hard for me because so much about #paleontology is based on interpretations made by someone at a certain point in time and then when we get more information we can update our interpretations and ideas. So, this #fossil is one of a few we have from the same location and they are labeled as "Scyphozoa?'" For those of you unfamiliar with the taxonomic jargon, this is the group that includes jellyfish!

The other two specimens are more like squished cones, I failed to get an image but they all have this sort of rippled pattern on the outside. I've never seen a fossilized jellyfish that looks like this but certainly I have not seen all the fossil jellies!

Do any of you have another interpretation? I'm very open and wanting to get this mystery solved! We have a smaller one that I will see if we can CT scan but in the mean time... is this a jelly or something else??

[phylojennny]

#Museum30 Day 1: Your Museum So, I work at a research museum - not quite as warm and welcoming as the classic natural history museums we all grew up visiting. I work at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, a division of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. The halls are a bit sterile (for now!) but the collections are rich and so so so extraordinary! Four collections are housed here: Paleontology, anthropology, zoology, and the herbarium. We are off main campus so there isn’t the hustle and bustle of students or visitors. I’m very fortunate to be taking care of so many fossil invertebrates!

[phylojennny]

#Museum30 Day 14: Weather 

I was scrolling through photos and this is a great memory from Ohio University. Adriane and I (Mike, were you with us too??) were out hunting Pennsylvanian fossils and found this huge slab of ripples. We essentially rode the slab down the outcrop and managed to get it into Adriane's Jeep.

You can tell from our outfits that it was a bit cooler out. For invertebrate fossil hunting it’s best to target outcrops just after a good rain or in the winter! The rain helps wash off old material and reveal the hidden treasures. And in the winter there is much less vegetation covering the rock - and also less insects & critters that could harm you.

We proudly displayed this beauty in Alycia's lab space and she promptly said, 'one of you is taking that when you leave.' It now lives at Adriane's mom's house where it is well displayed!

[phylojennny]

#Museum30 Day 2: Who am I?

What a loaded question! Professionally, I am a collection manager & evolutionary paleobiologist. I care for the invertebrate fossils at the University of Michigan Museum of #Paleontology (part of @ummnh_museum). I also like to think about #ancient #echinoderms in terms of their change, shapes, and distribution through geologic time.

I am also an avid cyclist (I prefer mountain biking but also ride on the road) and love to explore new areas on my bicycle. I am a #CatMom of 3 beautiful girls, Alice (10 years old), Madeline (6 years old), and Ellen (10 weeks). I also LOVE Dolly Parton (thanks for the mug, Jillian!) and think the world of her and her work to provide youth with books. Her voice is a dream and her heart is big.