hey, im in grade 12 and looking to study palaeontology in university, do have tips for types of programs to get into, or just general suggestions? there arent any schools in my area that specialize in palaeontology, but right now i'm looking at going into earth science and doing a co-op (we have a couple pretty cool sites out here, some museums that take undergrad students). thanks
Hi there! Thanks for contacting me! I’m afraid I might not be able to help completely, I’m UK based and our school system is a bit different. I studied Art, Geology, Geography and Computing for A-Level (we do these to get into university in the UK).I got into palaeontology via the Geology route, I did a 4 year MSci in Geology at Southampton, UK, but got lucky with my master’s project as they happened to set up a Vertebrate Palaeontology course the year I was doing my master’s. I was interested in it before then, and there were a number of palaeo-related modules in my geology degree anyway, but I didn’t initially plan on specialising.One way of getting into palaeo would be to do a bachelors in a subject like geology or biology first, and then do a master’s in palaeontology afterwards. Alternatively, look around and see if you can find any palaeontology courses that interest you. I’m not sure how the university system works outside the UK, but your earth science route sounds like a solid plan.
Be aware that there’s not many jobs at the end of a palaeontology degree, you have to be extremely resourceful, enthusiastic and will prrrrobably end up in academia rather than a well paid job, but
It always helps keeping up to date with subjects that interest you, conferences such as SVPCA, SVP etc. are all open to anyone as long as you can fund it yourself. If you’re really interested it might be worth going along to a conference or two and meeting people and seeing what sort of things palaeontologists get up to, to make sure it’s right for you! There’s often a lot of students presenting posters and talks at these events too, and this can give you an idea of the sort of research you might be expected to do. Also, networking at these events is vital, you’ll bump into nice people that might point you in the right direction or know of good places to volunteer and the like!I hope this is sort of helpful, I didn’t really set off with any clear plan and fumbled my way here so I’m sure you’ll do fine!