Current Highlights

Welcome to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Paleontology website!                 

Paleontology	Geology	Fossil Treasures

With the activation of this website in November 2008,  paleontology at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park moved into a new era of its history.  That history goes back more than 230 years, to the observations of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition chaplain, Fray Pedro Font, who pondered the implications of finding ancient seashells in the desert.  The written record ramifies forward from Father Font's musings, by way of many remarkable individuals and several great institutions.  From notes and journals to detailed expedition reports and scholarly research papers, the story has grown.   But only now, with the power and flexibility of the internet available to so many of us, can that history and the rock and shell and bone on which it is based be studied and searched by anyone with the interest and will to do so.  We, the ABDSP Paleontology Society, hope that this website will be a gateway with many keys for all those who wish to explore the world of paleontology at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

One year into publication, our website continues to evolve into the open gateway that we originally envisioned, and more.  Last November there still were many gaps in structure and content, which have since been filled in and enriched.  Descriptions of the Park, its geology and paleontology, and of our Society and its program of field and educational work, were contributed by members and staff, who brought their individual thoughts and insights to the story.  Members posted text and photos of group expeditions to other paleontology centers, a summer tradition of learning and helping now in its fifth year. Online applications for our certification program and educational support program, as well as a collection of useful links relating to paleontology, were made available to site visitors, thousands of whom did indeed come to explore. And behind the scenes, in the "Members Only" section, our intra-Society business and communication has been greatly facilitated, with breaking news, meeting minutes, upcoming activities and other useful information all in one place, and paperless.  As the 2009-2010 season begins, many changes and improvements to the site are in progress - keep in touch!

Sharron Sussman, October 2009