Paleo Warrior
Getting to know Andres Buitron, a veteran Project Exploration student extraordinaire and a 2005 Dinosaur Lab Intern.
by Jessica Havens

Andres with a fossil he has been preparing at the University of Chicago Dinosaur Lab. Photo: J. Havens © Project Exploration

Jessica Havens (JH): Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got interested in paleontology? Andres Buitron (AB): My name is Andres Buitron and I will be a second year student at the University of Montana this fall. I have been associated with Project Exploration since my freshman year at Perspectives Charter School, which is when my interest in fossil preparation began. As my involvement with P.E. developed, my interest in paleontology and fossil preparation grew as well. Now that I am back from my first year of college I have been working in the prep lab to further increase my skills in fossil preparation. JH: What do you love most about working with fossils? AB: Knowing that these fossils belonged to beings that lived long ago keeps me interested. Since I can’t learn about dinosaurs first-hand, I have to look at the fossil I hold and study it to paint a picture in my head.

I see these dinosaurs walking, and interacting with each other in a world we can never go back to. I see them playing, eating, and dying. I see their environment in its beauty; I wish I could see myself walking amongst them.

Photo: J. Havens © Project Exploration

JH: What have you learned from people at the lab?

AB: I have learned more about fossil preparation techniques than about the actual dinosaurs. The people at the lab have taught me how to use new tools, such as an air scribe and new bonding agents to repair fossils. I have seen others using these advanced tools but I would only be able to use basic dental picks and pin vices. In my time here at the lab I have seen what these fossil technicians go through everyday, I have seen what I will one day go through everyday. Being a fossil technician is definitely the profession I will be in.

Photo: J. Havens © Project Exploration

JH: Where do you see yourself in five years? What do you see yourself doing?

AB: I still see myself in Montana; it is the perfect place to be to study geology and paleontology at a lower level. I would love to go out of the country to study these things but I’m in no rush. I hopefully will be entering graduate school and I will be planning expeditions to Mexico for my paleontological studies. I chose Mexico because I love the country and all you hear about is its archeology. I want to find the monsters that roamed it.

Andres in the field as a Junior Paleontologist.
Photo: G. Lyon © Project Exploration

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