2007 FOSSIL LAB INTERNSHIP

MEET TIM

Timothy is a rising junior at Bronzeville Military Academy. His spare time is not only filled with baseball and football, but with a new found interest in plant science as well. Tim also enjoys uncovering fossils, something he experienced for the first time last year as a Junior Paleontologist (JP) with Project Exploration. While Tim enjoyed his time in the JP program, his true passions are environmental science and animal science.

Tim feels that this internship will be mutually beneficial for himself and the Fossil Lab. “I have a lot to contribute to the lab, and I am an enthusiastic worker.  This internship will help me on the road to success, because I want to be a zoologist.” His future goal is to own a pet store chain that teaches prospective pet owners about their animals before they purchase them.

Last year, as a 2006 Junior Paleontologist, Tim looked for bones at The Mammoth Site in South Dakota. This year, he will get to experience a part of paleontology that most don’t know about—what happens to a fossil after it’s been found and excavated. Photo E. Schroeter

DAYS IN THE LIFE OF TIM, FOSSIL PREPARATOR

July 25, 2007
Today I got to work on a dinosaur jaw bone. I got to clean and use some tools to clean the jaw bone. I never knew jaw bones had so many ridges. I got to use a microscope. It was one of the tools and I learned how to focus and move it around to better see the bone and where I had to clean. It was calm and quiet in the lab. I didn’t expect that. But today was a good day and I look forward to the next day in the lab.

July 26, 2007
Today was a good day. I worked on the same dinosaur jaw, but today I learned something new. I learned how to glue parts of bones that were broken back together. I also learned how to tell where the broken bones go by using the microscope. Cleaning a fossil is a lot like solving a puzzle, but instead of putting the pieces together you’re uncovering the pieces to see what’s underneath. Sometimes you may put some pieces together using the glue. When I was cleaning a loose piece and it broke, I thought Stephanie [Lab Intern Supervisor] would be mad, but she wasn’t. She told me to find where they go and glue it back in. Today was a good day. It went by quick. Time flies when you’re having fun.

July 27, 2007
I worked on the same jaw bone because I used too much glue yesterday. Stephanie told me the glue was only supposed to go in the crack and not anywhere else. Today I also saw Paul Sereno. He was talking about his newly discovered dinosaurs that will be visible to the world in November of this year. There was a whole presentation talking about digital imagery, and the presenter talked about how to make it and what programs you need. She made a 3-D model of a skull on the computer and somehow got it to where it was able to turn 360 degrees and transform from the skull into the head where it had some skin and eyes. Today was interesting.

July 30, 2007
Today the excess glue finally came off. I finally cleaned the front, and then Stephanie told me I had to do the back. I was happy that I got to move on to something new. Tomorrow she said we would have to cut it out of the cast and flip it over. I think it will have a lot of cracks.

Lab Volunteer Supervisor Stephanie Crofts reviews Tim’s handiwork on a bison bone. Photo M. E. Perez

August 1, 2007
Today was a good day. We turned the jaw bone over after taking it out of the cast and I had to work on the back. I thought the back of the fossil would be easier than the front, but it was just as hard as the front—maybe harder. I was excited when I got pieces of glue off that I was having difficulty with.

August 6, 2007
Today I finally got a different fossil. The first fossil I had was easy to clean. It only took me like, 15 minutes. The second one was harder, but still a little easy. That one took me 1½ hours to finish. The third one I got I didn’t really get a chance to finish, but I got a lot done on it too. I guess after cleaning the jaw bone I got better. Today was fun and I look forward to the next day.

August 8, 2007
Today was a very good day. I got to work on three different fossils. Two were the same, but the last one was good. It looked like it could have been a face bone of some animal. It was only half a face. I can’t wait to finish working on the face bone I got today.

August 9, 2007
Today was a cool day. I finished the face bone from yesterday and I finished another bone, but the last bone I got was hard, possibly harder to clean than the jaw bone. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to clean it. We’ll see I guess. Today the lady from Project Exploration came and took some pictures. It felt like I was some type of celebrity. It was pretty cool. Not too many people were here today, just a couple, so it was quiet. Today went smooth except for the last bone I had.

August 13, 2007
Today I got to use a different type of magnification device and it was easier that way than with a microscope. I only got one bone done. It was a bison bone. On Thursday I’m going to look on the internet and find out want bone it is, because they didn’t have bison bones in the bone book [the bone identification guide for the lab].

Using a pin vice, Tim cleans a bison fossil. Using the microscope allows him to work very close to the bone without scratching it. Photo M. E. Perez

REFLECTING ON HIS EXPERIENCE

My experience in the lab was a fun one, and it opened my eyes to all new aspects of science. Before I started, I thought that all the people in the lab would be uptight and weird, but that’s not the case. They are regular people like me and you. My experience in the lab also helped me with life, because when you’re doing a fossil and you get bored, you can’t quit. You’ve got to finish it, and it’s worth it.

The fossil lab also gave me the chance to talk with different people and learn things I never knew, and I’m sure it will help me in the future. I really enjoyed working in the Fossil Lab this year.