Education and Resources
Preparator's Session
A forum for presentations on current issues in paleontological preparation, ranging from field and lab techniques to specimen curation, molding, casting, and exhibition design.
To ALL authors of papers and posters:
Please consider making your presentaion(s) available online (submit). You are also encouraged to submit your papers for peer-reviewed online publication in the Technical Papers section.
2009 Preparator's Session [abstracts]
- Continual destruction of pyritized bones of neogene mammalian fossil from northeastern Thailand
Rattanaphorn Hanta, Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Muang, Thailand; Benjavun Ratansthien,
Chiang Mai University, Muang, Thailand; Pratueng Jintasakul, Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Muang, Thailand; Yutaka Kunimatsu, Primate Research Institute, Kanrin, Japan
- Acid preparation of fossils using sulfamic acid, a weak organic acid, and its advantages over acetic and formic acid preparation
Carlos Padilla and Mary Parra, Fundacion Colombiana de Geobiologia, Bogota, Colombia
[PDF]
- Fuentesalvo site (Villar Del Rio, Soria), the first accessible dinosaur tracksite to the handicapped in Spain
Sergio Rasal, Paleoymás, Zararagoza, Spain; José Barco, Paleoymás, Zaragoza, Spain; Daniel, Castilla, Paleoymás, Zaragoza, Spain; Olga López, Paleoymás, Zaragoza, Spain; Javier Rubio, Paleoymás, Zaragoza, Spain
- Applying techniques of digitalization using structured white light and modeling by sintering to replicate vertebrate fossils
Alfredo Moros,
Paleoymas, Zaragoza, Spain; José Barco, José Ignacio Canudo, Gloria Cuenca-Bescós,and Victor Sauque, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
- Sketching it: using digital photos, drawings, and artist software to map a field jacket during preparation
Dennis Roth, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS, USA
- Mitigating stress and strain while de-molding delicate specimens from the Late Cretaceous Maevarano Formation of Madagascar
Joseph Groenke, Stony Brook University Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook, NY, USA
- Virtual repair of fossil CT scan data
Mark Johnson, Zartasha Mustansar, Phillip Manning, Lee Margetts, and Paul Mummery, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Production of multi-purpose molds for versatile, detailed replication of large-scaled fossils: the Basilosaurus isis casting project as an exemplar
Michael Cherney, William Sanders, Philip Gingerich, and Iyad Zalmout, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Mohamed Antar, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Wadi-Al-Hitan World Heritage Site, Fayum, Egypt
[PDF]
- Fossil vertebrate reconstruction for science and the public
Erin Fitzgerald, Paul Sereno, Tyler Keillor, Carol Abraczinskas, and Robert Masek, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Moving vertebrate paleontology collections and preparation laboratory at the Yale Peabody Museum
Marilyn Fox, Vicki Fitzgerald, and Mary Ann Turner, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT, USA
- Extraction of fossils from much harder, volcaniclastic matrix
Ana Balcarcel and Jack Conrad, AMNH, New York, NY, USA
- Effective micropreparation workstation setup
Lisa Herzog and Akiko Shinya The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
- Stocking the fishbowl: a program to teach new exhibit lab volunteers the basics in fossil preparation, molding, and casting
Steven Jabo,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA; Matthew Brown, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA; Peter Reser, Paleo-Tech, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Michael Holland, Michael Holland Productions, Bozeman, MT, USA; Matthew Smith, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Traning and evaluation of volunteer fossil preparators in the Smithsonian fossilab program
Matthew Brown, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Matt Smith, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA; Steven Jabo, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
2009 Poster Session [abstracts]
- The technique of immersion in acid as applied to the preparation of a placoderm fish from the lower Givetian (Devonian) of Loscos (Teruel, Spain)
Peter Carls, University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany; Alfredo Moros,
Rosana Oerruca, Javier Lorente, and José Barco, Paleoymás, Zaragoza, Spain
- A collection of models of Mexican Late Jurassic marine reptiles at a 1:10 scale
Hector De la Paz, and Marie-
Céline Buchey, Museo del Desierto, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
- The Smithsonian human origins initiative: research, exhibition, education and outreach
Richard Potts and Briana Pobier, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
- Temporary gap-filling to stabilize an exploded matrix for fossil preparation: the sand and Butvar B-76 technique
Amy
Davidson, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
[PDF]
- Armature damage in a mounted specimen
Robert Evander, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
[PDF]
- Methods of paleontological reconstruction
John Conway, Open University, London, United Kingdom
- Bringing BLM resource use permitting, research, and management together: developing an integrated paleontological database system
Lucia Kuizon, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC, USA; Neffra Matthews, Bureau of Land Management, Lakewood, CO, USA
2008 Preparators' Session [abstracts]
- A small scale, low-budget, hydro-efficient screen washing method: The "Mini-screener"
Thomas Temme IV, Simon Masters, and Stephen Sandau,
Intermountain Paleo-Consulting, Vernal, UT
- Delicate fossil skulls from a rich Holocene site: Which techniques worked best for preparation, display, and transportation
Erin Fitzgerald, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Jacketing the desert sands
Marilyn Fox, Faysal Bibi, and Andrew Hill, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
[PDF]
- On the use of plastic air conditioner filter media in plaster jackets for fossil collecting
Jean-Pierre Cavigelli, Tate Geological Museum, Casper, WY
- A relational database developed at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument for the purpose of managing and standardizing preparation documentation
Matthew Smith, John Day Associates, Gainesville, FL
- Family Reunion: A composite reconstruction of the Tyrannosaurus rex holotype skull
Michael Holland, Michael Holland Production, MT
- Restoration and threedimensional assembly of a nearly complete, articulated Eocene Protocetid whale skeleton from Pakistan
William Sanders, John Graf, Iyad Salmout, Munir Ul-Haq, and Philip Gingerich, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, MI
[PDF]
- An Explanation of the challenges and techniques for the extraction and transfer of large wall plaques
Brett Crawford, Matt Fair, and Kevin Krudwig, Research Casting International, Trenton, ON, Canada
- A new "Streamlined cradle making operation" for maximum protection of fossils while allowing for easy access for research needs
Thomas Nelsen, Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum, Vernal, UT; Scott Madsen, Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, UT; Dale Gary,
Utah Friends of Paleontology / Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum,
Vernal, UT, USA
- Learning the basics: A look at an adaptable lab based fossil preparation teaching experience
Matthew Brown, William Parker, Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified Forest, AZ; Stuart Sumida,
California State University, San Bernardino, CA
2008 Poster Session [abstracts]
- Ensuring success for all in exhibitions and informal science programs
Linda Deck, Bradbury Science Museum, Los Alamos, NM
- The Methods and data collection in fossil bone preparation process: Turning scrap material into premium scientific, educational, and exhibit resources
Olga Potapova, The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, Inc., Hot Springs, SD
- The trials and tribulations of excavation: Techniques for removing large, heavy field jackets
Steven Sroka and Heather Finlayson, Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum, Vernal, UT
- Challenges of a national park paleontological quarry: The Big Pig Dig
Ellen Starck, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Rapid City, SD; Matthew Weiler, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND; Eric Hoffnagle, Danielle Olinger, and Amanda Dopheide, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Rapid City, SD
- Removing fossil ribs: the thread technique
Amy Davidson, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
[PDF]
- Quantifying the benefits of a heavy liquid (sodium polytungstate) separation technique on microvertebrate fossil recovery
Jonathan Mitchell, Andrew Heckert, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC; Vince Shneider, North
Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
2007 Preparators' Session
- From Salvage operation to in situ preservation: Techniques used in conservation at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota
Kristine Thompson, Larry Agenbroad, Olga Potapova, The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD, Inc., Hot Springs, SD; Sharon Holte, SD School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD
- Unstable matrix: Examples of field and lab techniques for fossils in a wet, organic-rich clay from the Late Miocene Gray fossil site in Northeast Tennessee
Jeffrey Supplee, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
- Discovery, recovery and preparation of bones collected under salt water in caves from Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain)
Pere Bover, American Museum of Natural History; Francesc Gracia, Grup Nord de Mallorca, Pollença, Spain; Marina Crespi, Dept Identitat cultural-Seccio Arqueologia/Consell de Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Bernat Clamor, Grup Norder Mallorca, Pollença, Spain
- Preparing to prepare your fossil vertebrates: Set-ups to maximize speed and control
Amy Davidson, American Museum of Natural History, NY
- Digital preparation for the analog preparator
Joseph Groenke, Andrew Farke, Justin Georgi, Story Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
- Air abrasive 101
Jean-Pierre Cavigelli, Tate Museum, Casper, WY
[PDF]
- Fully automated sorting of micro-fossils from sediment using laser-stimulated fluorescence
Thomas Kaye, Burke Museum, Seattle, WA
- Laser scanning & 3D reconstruction as a tool for preparation and archival documentation
Kent Newman, Dale Winkler, Mike Polcyn, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
- Vertebrate microfossil storage, the basics, and a new technique
Matthew Smith, Kimberly, OR
[PDF]
- Who wants the white meat? Preparation, restoration, molding, and casting of an exceptionally preserved Tyrannosaurus rex cranium using a newly-developed apparatus
Allen Shaw, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA
- The preparation, molding, casting, and disarticulation of Poposaurus gracilis, YMP58100
Marilyn Fox, Vicki Fitzgerald, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT
- Especially durable prototypes of fossil specimens and replicas for use in public programming
Linda Deck, Idaho Museum of Natural History, Pocatello, ID; Robert Schlader, Nicholas Clement, Idaho virtualization Laboratory, Pocatello, ID; William Gibbs, College of Technology, Pocatello, ID; Ralph Chapman, Idaho Virtualization Laboratory, Pocatello, ID
- Duplication, three-dimensional reconstruction, and mounting of the skeletons of three Triassic tetrapods using epoxy-resin and acrylic glass
Henrik Stoehr, Museum für Naturkunde, Hunboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany
- Dawn of the dinosaurs: Design, construction, and installation of a Triassic paleontology exhibit hall
Matthew Brown, William Parker, T. Williams, Karen Dorn, Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified Forest, AZ
- The restoration and reconstruction of multiple ornithischian dinosaur skeletons at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History: Techniques, supplies, problems, and resolutions
Lauren Stevens, Allan Shaw, Daniel Pickering, Norman Wuerthele, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA
- Basic principles of conservation and their application to paleontological collections: Preparation and collection care with purpose
Gregory Brown, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE
2007 poster session
- Fossil preparation techniques for small Permian tetrapods from Richard Spur, Oklahoma
Scott Williams, Michael Henderson, Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, IL; William May, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK; Robert Reisz, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada
- Mega movers: Enormous field jackets
Harold Hanks, Marmarth Research Foundation, Marmarth, ND; John Hoganson, Brett Woodward, North Dakota Geological Survey, Bismarck, ND
- Methods for labeling silicone molds
Jeff Person, Charles Baker, Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK
[PDF]
- A methodology for removing fossils from the Koanaka Hills deposit
James Cureton, Patrick Lewis, Monte Thies, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
- Dissolvable support jacket for preparation of thin arthrodire and shark specimens from the Upper Devonian Cleveland and Bedford shales utilizing carbowax 4000
Gary Jackson, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, OH
[PDF]
- A multi-media solution to complex molding and casting of internal and external surfaces of a fossil Homo erectus cranium from Java
Amber Heard, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; John Graf, William Sanders, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
[PDF]
- Reproductive health and safety for female employees working in vertebrate paleontology laboratories
Vicki Fitzgerald, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT; Mason Milam, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, OH
- Pyrite oxidation: Review and prevention practices
Akiko Shinya, Lisa Bergwall, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL
[PDF]
- Silicone caulk molds: A 25 year retrospective
Kyle Davies, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK
- Reconstructing a new Mesozoic crocodile skull using basic techniques, advanced technology, and artistic finesse
Tyler Keillor, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Continuity and reanimation of a fossil preparation laboratory: A report from Florida
Jane Mason, Art Poyer, Richard Hulbert, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
- High-resolution virtualization of dinosaur footprints and rock art in the field using a low-cost, high-resolution laser-scanner
Robert Schlader, Idaho Virtualization Laboratory, Pocatello, ID; Brent Breithaupt, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY; Nicholas Clement, Ralph Chapman, Christian Petersen, Idaho Virtualization Laboratory, Pocatello, ID
- "Fly through the ground" subsurface tomography of dinosaur quarries using a combination of lidar and photogrammetry
Nels Peterson, Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT
- There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on- paleontological resource management implications for 3-D geophysical exploration: Case study from the Wind River Basin, Fremont county, Wyoming
Ben Shoup, Arcadis U.S., Inc., Buffalo, WY
- Archimedes' gift: X-ray fluorescence imaging, a new paleontological tool for soft tissue analysis and a test for fossilization process hypotheses
Robert Morton, Ken Huntley, Children of the Middle Waters Institute, Bartlesville, OK; Nick Morton, Missouri Western State University, Bartlesville, OK; Peter Larson, Black Hills Institute, Hill City, SD; Uwe Bergmann, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA
- Creating a searchable geographic information systems (GIS) database of fossil localities and specimens: An example from the Eocene of southwestern Wyoming
John Van Regenmorter, Robert Anemone, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI; Wendy Dirks, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; Ron Watkins, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia; William Moore, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
- 2D and 3D retrodeformation techniques using finite element analysis with application to trilobites and Herrerasaurus
Alec Boyd, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
- Identifying the causes of taphonomic variation in fossil bones using X-ray diffraction: A case study from Oligocene of South Dakota
Jason Moore, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Alan Marron, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom; Simon Redfern, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Paleozoic and Mesozoic animal sounds
Phil Senter, Lamar State College-Orange, Orange, TX
2006 Preparator's symposium [abstracts]
- The treatment of the Hagerman petrified log
Malcom Bilz, Canadian Conservation Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- A simple process for fabricating small display mounts
Matthew Brown, Constance Van Beek, James Holstein, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
- Volunteers as force-multipliers in research and in the fossil lab
Kenneth Carpenter, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO
- Discovery, excavation, and preparation of the skull of a new centrosaurine ceratopsian from the Wahweap Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), Southern Utah
Donald De Blieux, Salt Lake City, UT; James Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, UT; Alan Titus, Bureau of Land Management, Kanab, UT
[PDF]
- Collection and use of taphonomic data from vertebrate localities: lessons from six years of paleontological inventory and excavation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Mike Getty, Mark Loewen, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, UT; Eric Roberts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Plastic display jackets
John Hogbin, Wyoming Dinosaur Center, Thermopolis, WY
- Reconstructing Nigersaurus taqueti
Tyler Keillor, Brookfield, IL
- The softer side of preparation: dealing with nonmineralized vertebrate tissues
Eric Lund, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, UT
- Techniques and materials used in dismantling, cleaning, conserving, and remounting the Museum Für Naturkunde’s dinosaur skeletons
Carla Mackie, Amelia May, Peter May, Matt Fair, Kevin Krudwig, Research Casting International, Beamsville, ON, Canada
- The thrill of the frill: wear and tear demands restoration of a Dilophosaurus wetherilli skull, UCMP 77270
Jane Mason, University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, CA
- Refined paraffin wax used to preserve 11,000-year-old camelid footprints in lakebed sediments, St. Mary Reservoir, Southern Alberta, Canada
Peter Milot, James Burns, Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Building a better mousetrap: using new materials to improve processing of bulk matrix
Lloyd Sample, LSA Associates Inc., Irvine, CA
- Characterization of fossilized dinosaur bones
P. Sirois, Canadian Conservation Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Elzbieta Kaminska, InfoSciTech, Orleans, ON, Canada
- Relocation of new fossil deposit at the Rancholabrean type locality, Los Angeles, California
Robin Turner, ArchaeoPaleo Resource Mgmt. Inc., Venice, CA; John Harris, Christoper Shaw, George C. Page Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- Collection and handling protocol for molecular and chemical analyses of well-preserved fossil specimens
Jennifer Wittmeyer, Mary Schweitzer, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
2006 Poster Presentations [abstracts]
- Cyclododecane as a temporary sealer and filler in molding specimens with porous and penetrable surfaces
Gregory Brown, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE
- Data checks and other types of data collection strategies: two case studies at Badlands National Park
Rachel Benton, National Park Service, Interior, SD; Reko Hargrave, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Norman, OK
- Assembling an archival marking kit for paleontological specimens
Amy Davidson, Samantha Alderson, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY; Marilyn Fox, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT
[PDF]
- Health hazards of the rodent-borne hantavirus. How to deal with potentially infested storage sites at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center
John Gibbel, William Wahl, Wyoming Dinosaur Center, Thermopolis, WY
- Recognition of insect traces on modern and fossil bones
Kenneth Bader, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
- A variation on the padded plaster jacket for housing vertebrate fossils
Peter Kroehler, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
- Packing and transporting vertebrate fossil overseas
ReBecca Hunt, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL
[PDF]
- New uses of a relational database to improve the consistency and quality of fossil locality data in academic institutions and environmental consulting firms
Ian Browne, Kesler Randall, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA
2005 Preparators' symposium
- Molding and Casting of In-situ Articulated Skeletons in Soft Matrix:
A Case Study from the Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska
Gregory Brown, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE
[PDF]
- A technique to create form-fitted, padded plaster jackets for conserving vertebrate fossil specimens
Steve J. Jabo, Peter A. Kroehler, and F. V. Grady, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
[PDF]
- Museum collection management — Is it really worth digging in a National Park?
Rachel Benton, Badlands National Park; Ann Elder, Dinosaur National Monument
[PDF]
2004 Preparators' symposium
- A review of vertebrate fossil support (and storage) systems at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Marilyn Fox and Vicki Yarborough Fitzgerald, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT
[PDF]
- An investigation of cyclododecane for molding fossil specimens
Amy Davidson and Lisa Kronthal, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY; Rachael Perkins Arenstein, Conservator in Private Practice, New York, NY
[PDF]
1998 Preparators' symposium
- A foot-controlled, chip blowing needle for micropreparation of fossil vertebrates: Amy Davidson, Amerian Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
[PDF]
Past Symposia
A list of papers presented at prior SVP Preparator's Symposia (sorted by author, title, category or year) is available below in PDF format. Additionally, select papers from this list are being reformatted and made available online (courtesy of the authors). Authors of papers and posters presented at the Preparator's Session are enthusiastically encouraged to submit their papers for peer-reviewed electronic publication on the Technical Papers web page.
Materials & Methods: A resource for Preparators of Fossil Vertebrates
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