Author: Jennifer Bauer

by Gloria Carr (@gloria-carr)

I had a great time at NAPC, I learned a lot and it was really great meeting with the Dry Dredgers. My club, the North American Research Group (NARG), is much younger and it was really good to see what we could become after fifty years or so, Cincinnati is really showing what amateur/professional partnerships should be! I’m very excited about MyFOSSIL and I feel it is becoming a GREAT resource already. This is such an exciting time to be in paleontology, even as an amateur. It was so inspiring to see what everyone else has done. I hope in the future I will be able to contribute more. As a result of this conference I’ve joined the Paleontological Society and I’m looking forward to networking more.

By Ian D. Browne, Ph.D. (@ian-browne)

Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Oklahoma State University, Center for Health Sciences

I have been a member of the Paleontological Society off-and-on for the past twenty years and am sorry to say that until this year I had never attended NAPC. As second author on a talk my supervisor had submitted, I figured this year would be no different. I honestly did not know what to expect of the NAPC meeting when Dr. Kent Smith told me I would be going in his place to talk about the work we do at Oklahoma State University to recruit and support future generations of Native American physicians and scientists as part of the Native Explorers program. On the flight out I assumed NAPC would be no different than any other conference I have attended. I could not have been more wrong and am so glad for it. The Paleontological Society’s commitment to fostering diversity and inclusivity in the field was absolutely palpable and felt to be light years beyond what I have observed at other meetings. This was by far the most positive meeting experience I have had in my nearly twenty years of attending scientific meetings.

I found every talk in the “Engaging Diverse Communities in Paleontology” and “Broadening Horizons of Broader Impacts” symposia to be inspirational and continually found myself thinking “we need to do this with Native Explorers.” It was especially heartening to see that the “Engaging Diverse Communities in Paleontology” session was absolutely packed, standing room only. The “Exploring eLearning in the Paleosciences” symposium appealed to my work with photogrammetry and developing digital resources for use in the lecture hall and in outreach. I was glad to see so many talks focused on developing positive collaborations and interactions between “amateur” and “professional” paleontologists, though as was frequently pointed out the line between the groups is now, as always, nebulous and I hesitate to use those labels.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the FOSSIL Project for funding my trip to NAPC. Regrettably I was only passingly familiar with the FOSSIL Project prior to NAPC. The more I learned about the project, both before and at the meeting, the more I found I was kicking myself for not becoming involved sooner. Before returning to graduate school I spent most of my career working in natural history museums. Direct outreach and interaction with the public have always been important to me. So much of what the FOSSIL Project is doing dovetails with my own values and outreach goals. As the project transitions into the next phase of its existence I hope I will be able to do my part to ensure its continued success.

Summing up, I think what struck me most about the NAPC meeting is that while other meetings make an effort to address some of these topics, they always seem to be treated as subordinate to the “real science”. What was so refreshing was that the Paleontological Society clearly put these topics at the forefront. No matter how many museum drawers we fill, or papers we publish, we must ask ourselves if we are not working to ensure that everyone who shares this passion for fossils has the access and support they need to flourish, does any of it really matter?

By Linda McCall (@lmccall)

It was especially meaningful for me to attend the 50^th Anniversary North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC) in Riverside, CA June 23-27 as a guest of the myFOSSIL Project.

These conventions are held every 5 years and I had attended the previous one in 2014 in Gainesville, FL at the kick-off of the myFOSSIL Project, so it was especially poignant for me to be attending this one at the Project’s close.

I am no stranger to working with professionals and presenting at paleontological conventions but I have  learned a lot in the ensuing years since the FOSSIL Project’s inception, becoming even more aware of the vast variety of opportunities that exist to interact with the broader professional community in a meaningful way.  The FOSSIL Project has also been invaluable in helping me connect with other amateur/avocational paleontologists from all across the country.  These are friendships that will last for the rest of my life and I am deeply indebted to the project for facilitating those introductions.

As an active advocate for advancing the collaboration between the non-professional and the professionals sides of paleontology, this convention was particularly noteworthy in that for the first time ever (that I am aware of), an entire session was created by, dedicated to, and run by Amateur/avocational paleontologists.  Offered by the Dry Dredger Fossil Club from Ohio: Symposium 32: Two to Tango: amateur-professional interactions in advancing paleontological knowledge.  The session was chaired by Dry Dredger and Paleontological Society Strimple Award Winner Jack Kallmeyer and Dr. David Meyer.  There were 18 presentations – all well attended, some talks with over 60 in the audience.

It was an honor to be a part of this inaugural foray of the amateur/avocational community into the world of professionalism and I hope it will continue and serve as a model for future sessions to draw on.  The myFOSSIL Project and the NAPC Convention have enriched my life and I will be forever grateful for the lessons learned.

by Rich Bex (@richard-bex)

The 2019 North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC) was a memorable experience. Before joining the FOSSIL Project, I never thought I would have the privilege to attend, let alone present at a conference of that magnitude. During my time with the FOSSIL Project, I have had the opportunity to meet and converse with members of the paleontological committee through many of the events that FOSSIL has hosted or been a part of, as well as through social media as part of the FOSSIL Project social media team. Through NAPC, I had a chance to reconnect with many of our community members as well as meet many members of the paleontological community that I may never have met otherwise.

As many of my colleagues have probably stated, the conference had many high points. There were incredible keynote speeches, informative sessions, and well-run workshops. For me, the most memorable part during my five days at NAPC, was the symposium which focused on the past, present, and future of the FOSSIL Project. I felt very lucky when I was offered the chance to join the project two years ago.  For me, it was incredible hearing the discussions of their experiences with the project and what the project meant to them. Hearing their stories, gave me a sense of accomplishment because it made it seem like we had made a real impact on the paleontological community.

By Jayson Kowinsky (@jayson-kowinsky)

The Fossil Project invited me to participate in a panel discussion at one of their symposiums at the North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC) in Riverside California.  The NAPC is a power packed conference chalk full of paleontology sessions, presentations, and posters that is hosted every 4 to 5 years.  It’s a week where one eats, breathes, and sleeps paleontology!

The FOSSIL Project arranged for a few sessions of amateur paleontologists to discuss and highlight the importance of amateurs in the field of paleontology and also to discuss the goals and accomplishments of The FOSSIL Project.

Before attending the conference, I decided, with some other FOSSIL Project friends, to go a few days early and visit Ernst quarries in Bakersfield (Sharktooth Hill Area) for a chance at finding Miocene marine fossils from the Temblor formation, which include sharks and cetaceans.

After the pre-trip to Bakersfield we drove down to Riverside for the NAPC kickoff and to meet up with other FOSSIL people that had just arrived.   The convention was very well organized and also very busy!

There were many symposiums going on concurrently and it was hard to pick which ones to go to and which ones to miss.   All of The FOSSIL Project sessions were wonderful and informative, including symposium 36 run by Jen Bauer, which I participated in.   The NAPC was also a great place to meet new paleontologists and reconnect with past acquaintances.

Finally, after the NAPC conference, I stayed a few extra days to checkout out the museums around LA, including, a hidden gem called the Alf Museum, the famous La Brea Tar Pits, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County with its stunning dinosaurs.

A BIG thanks goes out to The Fossil Project for setting up the sessions, logistics, and inviting the many amateurs to speak at NAPC 2019!

by MacKenzie Smith (@mackenzie-smith)

Greetings readers!

Conferences are, at least in my opinion, one of the methods of communication in science that are not frequently talked about or seen outside of academia. Since I’m one of those weirdos who likes to talk in front of groups of people, I was initially excited by the idea of conferences as an undergraduate, but my opinion changed on them as I moved on to graduate school. Conferences can take up a lot of time (and money) and sometimes are more draining than anything especially if there aren’t a lot of talks you are wholly invested in. NAPC was different though. Unlike most conferences I’ve attended before which were focused on geology or botany, NAPC had sessions on all aspects of paleontology. To me, this made it very worth while since the skills and knowledge base in one paleo field can be transferred to another or put into the larger context of the history of life. Since the sessions all had different themes I wouldn’t say there was one or several take away points. Likewise, I don’t think I could point a finger on ways I directly benefited other than increased awareness of other studies and the inspiration to keep working to keep up.

To keep up, I gave a talk of my own titled “Bridging the gap: Outreach and research contributions of the North America Research Group (NARG).”In it, I discussed NARG’s history, it’s outreach and major fossil discoveries. I also talked about the important role that fossil clubs play in inspiring and guiding people (generally, but not always youth) into the academic realm.

If you would like more insight from the conference including photos you can follow this link to a YouTube video on the conference: An inside look at a paleontology conference!

Signing off,

MacKenzie