Your college or university may have a paleontologist for you to pursue independent research with. There are also volunteer opportunities at local museums. You should speak with a professional in your field to answer your questions about what paleontologists do.
Take paleontology field courses for hands-on experience. The Paleontological Society co-sponsors a fieldwork course at the University of Georgia. Students who join the course can learn how to analyze the fossil record. Participate in paleontological digs whenever possible. Fieldwork looks good on college and scholarship applications. You may consider joining private digs through museums in states such as Utah, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado.
Volunteer to help with paleontological research. The Center for Health Sciences offers a vertebrate paleontology volunteer program. Volunteers also learn about sampling techniques.
Part 3. Look for industry jobs to survey and salvage fossils. A lot of work for paleontologists nowadays is in industries such as environmental consulting, highway construction, gas and oil pipelines, electric and phone lines, and oil and gas drilling.
These jobs have high demand for paleontologists to survey and salvage fossils on federal, state, and tribal land construction projects. When you apply for these jobs, emphasize your fieldwork experience in surveying fossils. Search governmental paleontologist job postings on the Internet.
Find work managing museum collections as a curator. As a curator, you would be responsible for managing large collections of fossils, identifying new specimens, and using their database for cataloging fossils.
Be prepared to write instructional materials and diagrams for museum displays. You may also need to be able to lift up to 30 pounds 14 kg. Part 4. Read job postings carefully to understand all requirements. Tailor your resume and cover letter to the job posting by paying attention to specific skills it lists and make note of them. Out of those skills decide the 3 most important based on your reading of the job description. Organize your resume based on those 3 important requirements.
List those qualities first on your resume and explain how you have fulfilled those tasks in past jobs. Write a clear objective statement on your resume.
Organize your skills so that they match those listed in the job ad. Organize your resume into sections for education, research and field experience, teaching experience, computer skills, and awards and honors.
For example, if the job calls for collections management experience, put that in a section that describes your research and field experience. Special skills may involve computer, paleontology and geology, and desktop publishing and graphics. Discuss your fieldwork experience when you apply for a job. If applying for an industry job, reference any geology experience you have. If you have design experience, you discuss that, as you may need to create diagrams for museum displays.
Rishi Bollu. Ideally, you will make your way into college or university for further education, but just as in any industry, this is not always required for paleontology. Not Helpful 10 Helpful Any suggestions if your high school doesn't offer what I need to become a paleontologist? In your high school years, get good grades in math and science, namely Chemistry, Biology, Physics, History, and Mathematics. You would want to excel at these courses in order to enter the field.
Paleontology means that you have to embark on a geology undergrad, which means you'll have to try to excel in your high-school science courses. Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Calculus is what you are going to encounter as a Geology undergraduate. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 6. To be a paleontologist, you'll need to get into college and complete the bachelor's certificate in geology. Thus, you'll have to go to the graduate school of geology after completing the bachelor's certificate in geology.
Paleontology starts at the master's level and continues to the Ph. Consider completing the master's course and the doctorate as well. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 4. Paleontologists embark on Geology degrees, they should have taken calculus series in their early years of their undergrad. In the Geology undergraduate, they encounter the Geophysics course in which they have studied calculus series from , with physics in the course.
To be a paleontologist, you should major in geology or biology. And you will need a master or preferably a doctoral degree. In order to ensure you have acquired a strong set of skills, knowledge and competencies that will be applied to your future career in paleontology, there is a certain body of coursework you should pursue during your undergraduate years. Becoming a paleontologist requires a strong educational background in the natural sciences, with a combined focus in geology and biology.
Having a double-major in these areas is ideal, although having a major in one of these areas with a minor in the other, or a substantial amount of coursework in the other, is also a great way to gain the necessary background knowledge in these areas.
Many graduate programs in biology, geology, or paleontology require students to have completed coursework in areas such as modern languages, mathematics, chemistry and physics. Skills in statistical analysis and computers are also necessary for a career in modern paleontology, so be sure to pursue this coursework during your undergraduate years, as it may be difficult to do so while pursuing graduate studies.
If you want to become a paleontologist, you first need to determine if this career path is a good fit for you. Those who become paleontologists must have a passion for understanding the history of life on earth. They must be interested in working in the field, and have a strong aptitude for the natural sciences. Paleontologists are strong in academics and are emotionally stable, as this is required to complete the years of schooling that are necessary to work in this field.
Paleontologists are responsible for finding the fossils of animals and other organisms and identifying pertinent facts about the fossils using scientific techniques.
Paleontologists are also frequently involved in the study of evolutionary biology. Paleontologists primarily work in colleges and universities as instructors and researchers for Geology and Paleontology departments.
There are a few organizations outside of academics that are interested in employing the skills, knowledge and competencies of paleontologists, including:. Gaining first-hand field experience in paleontology is a great way to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom, and is an important element of paleontological training.
During your undergraduate years it is important to be proactive and speak with your geology and paleontology professors to see if they can point you in the direction of volunteer or paid fieldwork and research opportunities.
These opportunities are not only great for gaining knowledge and experience in the field which can be incredibly valuable for your resume they are also a great way to network with professionals in the field of paleontology. One way we can test our ideas is to look back at a time in the past when conditions were different - during the Jurassic there was no ice at the poles, for example - and see how biodiversity was distributed then.
This can help us make predictions about how it might change in the future. When I was seven, my grandpa asked me, 'What are you going to be when you grow up? He strongly supported the scientist idea and asked me, 'What sort of scientist? I thought, 'Okay, that sounds fine. I'll do that. It made all my career interviews at school very simple.
When this photo was taken, Susie was already a big fan of dinosaurs. She later gained work experience at the nearby Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre. You need to study science subjects. Maths isn't essential, but it has become increasingly important as a tool for palaeontology. A solid background in maths is generally useful for any science career.
I particularly liked biology and chemistry, and I also really enjoyed geography, particularly physical geography - studying rocks and the natural environment, and how environments and landscapes evolve. I took A-Levels in these three subjects. A PhD is essential if you want to be a researcher.
To get onto a PhD programme you need a really good undergraduate degree. People tend to get into vertebrate palaeontology either from a geological background or a more zoological background.
Several of my colleagues have degrees in zoology. A science undergraduate degree is crucial, and preferably one of those. The vast majority of curators have a PhD too. At a minimum they'll usually have an MSc as well as their undergraduate degree. The MSc will be in either Museum Studies or a discipline related to their subject area, such as geology or palaeontology.
If you can, volunteer at a local Museum. To be a palaeontologist you have to really love the outdoors and enjoy being outside a lot, particularly if you want to study geology as an undergraduate degree. Doing something like the Duke of Edinburgh's Award can give you a really useful set of skills that you will need as a geology undergraduate.
The Geologists' Association in the UK is a really good place for amateurs as well as professional earth scientists.
They run Rockwatch , a club for children and young people up to the age of 18 who are interested in rock, fossils, minerals and the geology of landscapes. The Palaeontological Association is aimed at adults, but it provides some resources related to careers in palaeontoIogy.
When choosing your degree course, rather than going straight for a palaeontology degree, I would recommend choosing something that will give you a broader skillset, like geology. It's better to narrow down your speciality later, rather than risk limiting your options for your future career. Susie drilling a core sample for palaeomagnetic analysis to help determine the age of the rocks.
Get hands-on experience - volunteer at a local Museum or heritage centre with a fossil collection. Make sure you enjoy being outdoors. It is a good idea to get involved in something like the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme as it will equip you with skills you need during geological or palaeontological fieldwork.
Go to university to get a Bachelor's degree in a science subject - preferably with a focus on geology, zoology or biology. Don't specialise in palaeontology too soon - keep your options open until Masters or PhD level to ensure you have the widest opportunities for your future career.
Palaeontology is a tough career to get into, but following the advice above will give you a good start. And remember: even if you don't choose it as a paid job, amateur palaeontologists also make really important contributions to the field.
I love fieldwork. I absolutely love studying rocks and looking for fossils. I'm grateful for the opportunity to get outside and do that. I also love teaching in the field - I love educating other people about rocks, fossils and how the natural environment forms. Susie perching next to sauropod vertebrae exposed in sandstone in the Morrison Formation near Torrey, Utah in Oh goodness, that's hard.
A really memorable moment for me is when the Museum unveiled Sophie the Stegosaurus. I'd been working on the specimen on-and-off since , so I was very happy when the Museum was able to acquire it in I continued to work on it behind the scenes for a year before it was put on display and published several papers on it.
Seeing the specimen mounted in all its glory and having Sir David Attenborough unveil it to the public was fantastic. Prof Paul Barrett introduced me to him as the world authority on stegosaurs, which was pretty amazing.
In my colleague and I discovered dinosaur blood and blood cells. It's the highest impact stuff that I've done so far. We didn't set out looking for blood. It was a completely chance discovery. We put some fossils under a scanning electron microscope and were very surprised by what we found.
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