NATHAN'S BLOG

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Paleontology

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NATHAN'S BLOG Presented by the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Paleontology Society

Nathan received his Junior Certification in 2009.
He occasionally writes about his experiences with the Paleontology Society.

Nathan’s Blog for January

In May of 2009, I got my Junior Certification for Paleontology Volunteer and I was very excited. But, later that year I broke my wrist so I couldn’t go to volunteer in the fall. Once my wrist healed, I went back to paleontology was Friday, January 29^th 2010. That morning we learned some new lab techniques from Curtis White that are used at the Utah Natural History Museum. We learned how to clean fossil bones with scalpels. We also learned from James Jacobs from the Natural History Museum in San Diego, techniques to clean invertebrate fossils and he showed us a tool kit that was really cool. I got to pass around my modern shells when he talked about the different kinds of invertebrates. In the afternoon I also got to share my shells when Sandy Keeley talked about fossil shells. At the end Sandy Keeley showed us some of the shells that were brought back to Anza Borrego Desert State Park Collection from Chicago.

Feb. 2010 Field Trip

On February 15^th 2010, some paleontology
volunteers and I went on a field trip. When we were in the car, on the way there, it was a bumpy ride so it made it difficult to get to where we were going but it made it was fun for me. When we arrived, it was a long hike to get where we were going to look for fossils. We passed the first ridge and saw some water foam formations on the rocks. Then, I realized that we were in marine sediment. We accidently went the wrong direction where I found a large rock with shell fossils in it. We also saw some plant fossils in an extra large rock that fell from the cliff next to us. I found my first fossil on the way back to the cars and it was an oyster shell fossils. I had fun and finding a fossil was exciting.

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