Help solve the mysteries of the past with vertebrate paleontologists from the WDC and the BHBF
  
 

Imagine taking a time machine back 150 million years and watching 40 ton long-necked sauropods walking across the flat coastal plains; a pack of Allosaurs hunting for a meal; or a watering hole with dozens of Late Jurassic dinosaur species quenching their thirst as the sun begins to set.

The Dinosaur Academy will transport you back in time as we discover and study the past and reconstruct an amazing image of ancient animals and the environments in which they lived. Join the Dinosaur Academy team and help our paleontologists to piece together the scientific story of the Late Jurassic dinosaurs and the terrain they once roamed.

 

Paleontology as a science is both lab and field based. The Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, WY, is one of the rare places where the lab is only two miles away from the field. You can literally discover a bone, survey and measure it, extricate it and be preparing it in state of the art facilities, all in one day. The Dinosaur Academy takes advantage of this by providing high school students such as yourself an opportunity to work with scientists, from discovery to display. The mornings and possibly some late evenings will be spent in the quarries when the temperature is not at it's worst. The hottest times of the day will be spent in the prep lab, museum, or molding and casting labs, or taking tours of the surrounding region.

There is nothing more exciting than discovering a bone and excavating it yourself. As you dig in the quarry there will be discussions on dinosaurs, their life and habits, as well as the habitats they lived in. Like a fingerprint, each quarry has it's own qualities and characteristics that tell the tale of the life and death of the animals entombed within. Literally this is CSI: Jurassic, and you are the investigators. Lab time will be spent 'learning by doing'; you will be trained on the instruments of the lab such as dental picks, pneumatic air scribes, diamond cutting tools, abrasion machines, and the ever-popular water and toothbrush. This is where the fine details are often discovered. This is where teeth marks are found on bones that were chewed by predators, where injuries sustained during the life of the animal are identified, and where the bones are stabilized for research and display.

You will also be given training in molding and casting. This is where the bones are copied for building mounts, and other researchers/educators to use. An overview of the different aspects of data collection and management will also be discussed.

At the end of the Dinosaur Academy you will have learned about the life, death, burial, and environment of the dinosaurs in the quarries you worked. The science you learn will be based on your experiences and observations during the weeklong adventure. There is no telling what you will discover. It may be a new dinosaur, evidence of a dinosaur's injury or death, or maybe a life long passion for learning and exploring. As Carl Sagan once said "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known". Lets work together to discover that ' something incredible' at the Dinosaur Academy!