Current Position: Curator of Collections/Paleontologist
How long have you been with Utah State Parks and in what capacity?
I’ve worked for the Division of Parks and Recreation at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum full time for nearly four years.
How did you become involved in working as a Paleontologist?
I have been interested in the natural sciences and how the world works ever since I was a kid. When I took Earth Science in the ninth grade I decided that I would like to have a career somewhere in that field. I narrowed my focus to geology in college and then after volunteering on a dinosaur dig up in Saskatchewan, Canada one summer, I decided paleontology was what I wanted to do.
Describe a typical day at your job.
(If there is no such thing as a typical day, then please tell us about your primary responsibilities and duties.)
My primary responsibilities deal with managing and caring for the museum’s collections. Our collections consist of paleontological, geological, archaeological, historical, and zoological items. We also have over 100 paintings by Ernest Untermann Sr. featuring prehistoric animals and modern landscapes of the area surrounding Vernal, UT. I am in charge of organizing and labeling the collections and cataloging them on a computer database. I make sure the collections are stored properly and in good repair. This involves routine inspection and cleaning of everything in our collections and everything on display at the museum. Other duties include fossil preparation, paleontological fieldwork, exhibit design and maintenance, and occasional educational tours of the museum. Our museum also serves as a repository for fossils that are collected on Federal public lands, so part of my responsibility is to help maintain partnerships with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Forest Service.
How many hours a week do you work in this position?
I work about 40 hours a week, with a few extra hours sometimes if there is a special event or project going on.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy the variety and flexibility of my job. Every day is different. Although some tasks can be tedious, like cataloging specimens, other tasks like fieldwork gets me out of the office and can be exciting and adventurous.
What do you find to be the greatest challenges of your job?
The greatest challenge is trying to keep up with everything that needs to be done. There always seems to be some backlog. Occasionally, I can get volunteers and interns to help me with things.
What kind of training/schooling is required in your position?
I have a bachelor's degree in geology and a masters degree in paleontology. It helps to have some biology coursework as well, particularly anatomy. Paleontology is sort of a blend between geology and biology. By studying the rocks that fossils are found in, a paleontologist can determine the type of environment the animal lived in. By studying the bones themselves, paleontologists can try to identify the type of animal and try to figure out how it lived and interacted in its environment and also how it died.
Is there any kind of training or general experience that you wish you had before taking your job?
I feel that I’ve been very fortunate in that I already had some good training and experience before I took the job. There is of course always some "on the job" training, like learning a new computer program or learning about the various administrative work that is involved when caring for collections.
What are a few of the projects that you've been working on recently that have been the most interesting?
I’ve been working in the lab piecing together a fossil crocodile skull that we collected from BLM land down near Bonanza, UT. We’ve also been working at a dinosaur site on BLM land out near Dinosaur National Monument. We have been collecting parts of the vertebrae of what we believe is a sauropod (big long-necked, long-tailed dinosaur) of some sort. The bone is very fragmented and has been challenging to get out. Once we get the bones back to the lab and remove the rock around it, we will hopefully get a better idea of what it is.
If someone were interested in working as a Park Naturalist, what advice could you give them?
First of all, they need to get a good education. They need to find a good program that offers a variety of courses in geology, paleontology and biology. Since jobs tend to be few and far between in the field of paleontology, I would also encourage them to get as much experience in all aspects of paleontology that they can. This would include research, field-work, fossil preparation, computer work, collections work, exhibit work, interpretive work, teaching, etc. I managed to get all this experience while I was a graduate student or by volunteering. The more well-rounded you are, the better chance you will have at getting a job in this field.
Please share any further thoughts you may have about working in the state park system:
Working for State Parks has been enjoyable. I’ve met a lot of very dedicated people who care a great deal about the wonderful natural resources we have here in the state of Utah.
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