Hey, everybody! This is Hillary and I'm
the fossil lab manager at the Perot
Museum of Nature and Science and today
I'm really excited to get the chance to
talk to you about what a fossil preparator
is, what the different type of tools that
we use, and how I got started and even
how you can be a fossil preparator if
you have the time and the enthusiasm to
do so. So find a comfortable seat and
let's get started
Hey Tooke - do you even know what a fossil
preparator is? A fossil preparator is
someone's whose job it is to get those
fossils cleaned and prepared even after
they've been out in the field for a long
time. By prepping up fossils they get
them ready to be put in the museum's
collections or to be eventually put on
display for you to come and visit and
see for yourself. Pretty cool huh?
"So are you telling me that fossils don't
come out of the ground ready to go and
beautiful to be put on display right
away?" Ha! No silly.
In fact fossils, like dinosaur bones,
actually come out of the ground
pretty much still covered in rock and
sometimes they can even be broken. It's
not anyone's fault that they're that way,
it's just how fossils work. So preparators
actually use a lot of different tools
to slowly get those rocks away and clean
them up and glue them back together. One
such tool is very special to a
preparator, it's called the air scribe
and it's like a mini jackhammer.
"Wow! I am so glad that I know that
information, thank you very much!" You're
welcome! In fact, some of the tools that we
use you may even recognize like this
toothbrush here. We actually use
toothbrush to remove softer rock from
certain fossils. So something like this
it's actually a really great tool for
fossil preparation. The next time you're brushing
your teeth, like I'm doing, you're actually using a fossil preparations skill.
How wild is that?! And with all of these
different types of tools that fossil
preparators have to use, it means that preparators
are actually really skilled at a lot of different things
like using special glues to glue those
fossils back together and even using
burlap dipped in plaster to build almost
cradles and casts around
them to protect them for a long long
time in our collections. So a fossil
preparator has to be really skilled. Good
night.
So now that you kind of understand what
exactly a fossil preparator is and
certain tools that we use, the question I
get asked next is usually "Hey Hillary,
how exactly did you get started in this
field?" and that's a very good question
Well usually when I'm asked that
question I start by saying "Hey, first of
all, do well in school and get a degree
in the Natural Sciences and that's a
science degree is usually one in either
geology or biology like I did. I have a
degree in biology which is the study of
life. Ooh! Pachycephalosaurus super cool!
Now, I think besides getting a degree and
doing well in school there's another
aspect of paleontology that not everyone
fully knows about and that's something
that I did in my career.
What is that would you say? Well it's
get experience in the field. How
exactly did I get that experience?
In fact, did you know that I actually
started my career as a volunteer for six
years and through volunteering that's
where I learned how to use all the
different tools, how to use and work with
fossils, and how even to go on a dig and
find bones with my own.
Pretty cool huh? Wow. A good number of
fossil preparator
actually get their start by volunteering
first and then they get to go in the
field as a career. Now if you're
interested in being a fossil preparator
I definitely recommend that if you're
over the age of 18 and have a museum
near you, check it out see if there's
a paleontology program and see if you
can possibly volunteer. In fact a lot of
people that work at the Perot Museum, with
me, are actually volunteers themselves,
how great is that! Hey Google, Play.
Well everyone, I hope you all enjoyed
spending some time in my apartment with me
and learning about what a fossil
preparator is, what different types of
tools and techniques that we use, and
even how you can get involved with the
museum through a volunteering program.
Remember
stay safe, respect social distancing
rules, and we'll get through this
together, okay? If you have any questions
don't hesitate to message or email the
museum and enjoy the rest of Paleo week!
Bye!
No! Dogs! I'm never working with
animals again in my career
