Meet the Delegates: Miguel R. 10th grade, Amundsen High School ON ASSIGNMENT: Lights, Camera, Dinosaur: The Story of the Nigersaurus Press Conference On Thursday, November 15, 2007, Paul Sereno held a press conference at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. to tell the world of one of his biggest discoveries—Nigersaurus. In a mere matter of hours, NBC, MSN, ABC, and other major news networks started spreading the story of the discovery, and the next day the story earned a front page spot in the Chicago Tribune. But the one thing that none of the news networks reported on was the process and the very hard work gone into putting together the actual press conference. I, on the other hand, and ten other Chicago Public School students had the privilege to get a behind-the-scenes look at the process of making the Nigersaurus press conference happen right before our very eyes.

Photo E. Schroeter

The process was not easy. Everything at the press conference involved lots of time, planning, and work from a lot of people. The cast of Nigersaurus took months to make—and took a week alone to put all the pieces together, reconstruct a model of Nigersaurus, and build an exhibit which will be in Washington, D.C. through March of 2008. Nigersaurus was not a cheap dinosaur either. It took thousands of dollars and countless hours of study and labor to build life-like casts of the plant-eating dinosaur and to produce a press conference which was sure to guarantee that it would interest the countless news networks that were in attendance, eager to learn more about Paul’s discovery of Nigersaurus. The night before the press conference, Paul got a chance to see his discovery put together for the first time. He was very pleased in the way it turned out, but the preparation was still not over. The crew at National Geographic had to arrange the stage and prepare the way the lights would be shining the very next day at the press conference.

Finally, the day came—the press unveiling of Nigersaurus. Surrounded by video cameras, VIPs, and members of the press, the people who helped Paul discover and learn about Nigersaurus were introduced. Finally, the press conference had started. Paul was on stage for about 45 minutes to an hour, sharing his experience of discovering Nigersaurus and the information he learned along the way to the press and the world. He did a very good job of it. I, for one, enjoyed the conference and learned a lot from it. After the conference, Paul answered a few questions and did interviews with several different news networks.

Many news cameras lined up to cover the unveiling of Nigersaurus
at National Geographic.
Photo K. Atman

From my point of view, I think that press conference was nothing less than a complete success, and the news coverage of it was way more vast then I imagined it would be. Almost every news network covered it and it got a spot in the next day’s Chicago Tribune headlines. The entire delegation was an amazing experience and is truly a lifetime memory that I will never forget.

REFLECTIONS OF A DELEGATE

11/14/07
I told my friend that I was going to the unveiling of a new dinosaur species and she asked, “Why should I care?” What should I tell her?
I will tell my friend that it is important for science due to the fact that it is a brand new discovery, and that this is big. It is something that no one knows about, it is something that we may not know much about yet, and that’s the point of the press conference. Those are the reasons you should care.

Miguel writes in his journal at the Nigersaurus Delegate pre-trip training. Photo M. E. Perez

11/15/07 I used to think…But now I know… I used to think Nigersaurus was just another dinosaur, but I was wrong. Nigersaurus is awesome and unique. I mean, I wish my teeth re-grew in a month! But another thing that really interested me was the press conference. I thought they were all boring, but it was fun and energetic and now I am seriously considering a career in paleontology because the job is so rewarding. 11/15/07 The most valuable thing from this experience that I will take with me back to Chicago is… The most valuable part of this experience was the Nigersaurus press conference. We basically saw something [the completely reconstructed model of Nigersaurus] we don’t see every day and that no one has ever seen before—including something that the person who discovered it didn’t seen until five minutes before we saw it!

Miguel explores air pressure at
the National Air and Space Museum.
Photo E. Schroeter

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