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Charlie mccall

Ms. Tibbits

Language Arts 12

8 march 2019

Paleontology Career Study

As long as I can remember I have loved learning about dinosaurs. I loved to watch

movies such as ​Jurassic Park​ just so I could look at them. Imagine how excited I was when I

discovered it is possible to make looking at dinosaurs your job. I enjoyed studying dinosaurs

more than any other subject. I read books about them, and told my parents endless dinosaur facts.

By the seventh grade, I had decided paleontology was my choice for a career.

Looking into paleontology you see that it covers much more that dinosaurs. A

paleontologist studies earth's history through the fossil record. These scientists look at all sorts of

fossils to learn about a range of things including plant life, microbes and of course dinosaurs.

Most paleontologists work on understanding the evolutionary tree as the make discoveries and

perform Study the fossil record.

Paleontologists do a variety of things and work in a variety of settings. The stereotype of

a paleontologist does fieldwork like Dr. Grant in ​Jurassic Park.​ He spends months living in a

camp; unearthing fossil dinosaur skeletons. While Dr. Grant is fictional character, this stereotype

of a paleontologist comes from real life adventurers like Roy Chapman Andrews who went

around the world in search of dinosaur fossils (McGorray).

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While this is the case with some, most paleontologists work in museums and universities

(Sam Noble Museum). The paleontologists that work at universities teach and do research and

some field work. Paleontologists who work in museums mostly do “research, exhibit design, and

public education” (Sam Noble Museum). It is also important to point out that field work can be

done anywhere (Paleontological Research Institution).

Finding a job is hard because so many other people are also looking for the same job.

There aren't enough jobs to go around in this field. This is important so you can prepare to find

another job in case one isn’t available (Milner and Chin). You also have to prepare to not work

as one.

Moving to another country for work is one answer to a tight job market. In some

countries, paleontology is not a popular area of study so there aren’t many paleontologists.

Paleontologists often go to those countries because competition is less intense. For example, the

competition for paleontologists is less in Scotland than it is in the United States so a

paleontologist would be willing to go there for work (Brusatte). If you want to stay in the United

States have a better chance at finding a job if you move to the western parts of the U.S (Burger)

Another solution for an unemployed paleontologist may be to use your training in a

different career. Other careers may be a better thing to focus on. There are other places that will

hire if you have schooling in paleontology.

If you are trained in art and paleontology you have the skills to design special effects.

Paleontologists are trained in understanding the relationship between form and function. For

example, “how big does Smaug’s wings need to be” (Burger)? Paleontologists also find work in
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the medical field teaching anatomy in medical and dental schools (Burger). Science journalism is

another option (Burger).

One of the areas paleontologists often worked was the petroleum industry. Oil companies

often hired paleontologists to help them look for oil deposits. Interestingly, and to me sadly, the

number of companies hiring paleontologists for this work has gone down quite a bit

(Paleontological Research Institution). In fact, the oil companies are favoring geologists to

paleontologists (Burger). It might be a good idea to double major in geology and paleontology.

While there are other careers a paleontologist can go into, there are many different areas

of work in paleontology that a paleontologist can do. There are vertebrate paleontologists who

study of fossils of animals with backbones. Invertebrate paleontologists study fossils without

backbones (Paleontological Research Institution). Micropaleontologists study tiny organisms that

usually lived in water (Burger). Paleobotanists study plant fossils. Taphonomists study how

fossils form. Biostratigraphists study how fossils are distributed up through rock. Paleoecologists

study how ecosystems developed. Paleontologists frequently are involved in studies of

evolutionary biology (Paleontological Research Institution).

One thing you can say about paleontologists is they find fossils. This can mean different

things. Fossils can be quite different from each other. They can be in different types of rock.

They can be different types of animals. They can be full animals or only the tracks of animals

(US Department of Agriculture).

Finding these different types of fossils fall into categories. A part of a fossil may have

been found years before so the search continues for the remaining pieces (Brusatte). Some
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paleontologists are lucky. Instead of finding part of a fossil they find a complete fossil. This is

rare (Currie).

Other Fossils may be out of the ordinary. Most of the fossils we have found that we

consider to be normal dinosaurs are the common types of dinosaurs. These are dinosaurs that

were probably encountered often. The rest of the new species of dinosaurs that we will find will

look way weirder. The weird dinosaurs will start to appear more and more now (Currie).

Other important types of fossil paleontologists find are fake and stolen ones. Often sites

are raided and the fossils are taken and sold. Some fossils are faked and sold as real fossils.

Paleontologists find and identify these fossils (Borenstein).

Paleontologists not only study the structure of the fossils, they use scans and x-rays to

learn how the creatures lived and acted when they were alive. With x-rays they can find out what

the animal ate (Borenstein). Paleontologists can look at a fossil and discover how that they might

have behaved when it was alive. Running scans on a fossil can let scientists know how

something would’ve looked but that also lets them know what they most likely did. Such as a

fossil has a long neck which suggests that it might have been a good fisher and lived in a

swampy area. They could then decide if this dinosaur was a good swimmer or just a fisher

(Borenstein).

Probably the most exciting things a paleontologist can have happen is discovering a new

species. If you find the rest of a fossil after only a piece of it is discovered. You get to name it

(Brusatte). Even more exciting is simply discovering a new species intact. The Indian Jones

types get all of the glory.

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What paleontologists are really doing is recording and saving history so we can

understand our world better. Recording history takes finding the fossils. After you find the fossils

you have to gather them carefully without using power tools. Then you can’t sell them, but use

them to study (US Department of Agriculture). Saving the history of our planet can help us look

at climate change and see how it affects us today. We can keep dates of how long the earth has

been around using the age of rock layers. We can see what major event was held at what times

thanks to rock layers as well (US Department of Agriculture).

The work that paleontologists do is important. What does it take to become one? First,

there is a lot of school. You have to go to school to get an education in many different things.

You may have to go major in something that you weren’t expecting. With paleontology you need

three basic sciences. You will either have to get a bachelor's degree in zoology, geology, and

biology (Sam Noble Museum).

Before college there are some things you can learn in high school to help prepare you to

become a paleontologist. In high school you should take lots of math and science classes. They

must go to a good college. Look for opportunities at museums for better understanding of

paleontology (Brusatte). Also, there are actually places that allow you to get a hands on

experience. Gem, mineral, or fossil collecting clubs allow experience. Also places like

universities and museums allow younger people to get experiences (Paleontological Research

Institution).

In the end you’ll probably have to get a Ph.D. But Burger tells you not to go for a PHD at

first (Burger). Fifty percent of people with master degrees start with $100,000 a year while only

twenty percent with PHDs start at $100,000 a year (Burger). “The average annual salary for
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paleontologists in the United States is $67,470. Entry-level salaries for these scientists are around

$36,580 per year, while experienced paleontologists can earn as much as $133,310 annually.

(State University,com)”

Even though paleontology looks like a hard career path, I still think that I want to go into

it. I would even love working in a museum if that's what I have to end up doing. If I end up

changing my mind I can still switch to working in a different field like in a zoo or a field such as

looking for fossil fuels. Even with all the difficulties to become a paleontologist I think I should

give it a try.
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Works Cited
Borenstein, Seth. "New Dinosaur Looks like Odd Mix of Duck, Croc, Ostrich, Swan." ​Canadian
Press​ 12 June 2017. 13 February 2019. <EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=MYO260749416517&site=
ehost-live>.
Brusatte, Stephen. "Ancient Scottish Sea Reptile Not ‘Nessie,’ But Just As Cute" with Joe Palca.
Morning Edition.​ NPR. Jan 2015. 13 February 2019.
<https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=6XN201501121011
&site=ehost-live>.
Burger, Benjamin. ​Are there any jobs in paleontology?​ 6 January 2014. 15 February 2019.
<http://www.benjamin-burger.org/are-there-any-jobs-in-paleontology/>.
Currie, Philip. "Bigger Than A T. Rex, With A Duck’s Bill, Huge Arms And A Hump" with
Christopher Joyce. ​All Things Considered.​ NPR. October 2014. 13 February 2019.
<EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=6XN201410222114&site=e
host-live.>.
McGorray, Kelly. "Danger in the Desert: True adventures of a Dinosaur Hunter." ​School Library
Journal​ 54.12 (2008): 146. <EBSCOhost
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=35731905&site=ehost-live.>
.
Milner, Andrew R.C. and Karen Chin. ​Series: Meet A Paleontologist .​ 27 July 2018. 15 February
2019.
Paleontological Research Institution. ​I Want To Be A Paleontologist!​ 2019. 4 March 2019.
<https://www.priweb.org/index.php/education/education-projects-programs/public-educa
tion-programs/i-want-to-be-a-paleontologist>.
Sam Noble Museum. ​What do Paleontologists do?​ 19 February 2019. 15 February 2019.
<https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/common-fossils-of-oklahoma/what-do-paleontologists-
do/>.
State University,com. ​Paleontologist Job Description, Career as a Paleontologist, Salary,
Employment - Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements,
Getting the Job​. 2019. 8 March 2019.
<https://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/7860/Paleontologist.html>.
US Department of Agriculture. ​Paleontology: Traces of past life.​ October 2015. FS-1058.
February 2019.
<https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/media_wysiwyg/paleontology-traces-of-past-lif
e.pdf>.
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