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Fossil Finder
Did you like the article about Cathy Forster the fossil finder in the August 2004 issue of Ranger Rick? Great! Cathy would like to tell you a little more about what she's been up to lately:
I am still working in Madagascar and on Madagascar fossils. There I’ve discovered several very primitive fossil birds, including Rahonavis, the early “dinosaur-bird” featured in the story. I am currently describing the skull of a new sauropod, as well as some bird fossils from Madagascar.
For the past three summers, I’ve been digging in China. My husband, Jim Clark, is there helping me, along with Dr. Xu Xing, a Chinese paleontologist. We have found many dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and other animals. We enjoy working there because it’s very beautiful and the food is excellent!
During the school year, I teach at Stony Brook University in New York State. I love getting students really excited about a new idea. I especially enjoy showing them something about a fossil—and getting them to think about it in a new way.
So you think you might like to be a paleontologist?
If you’re thinking you’d like to become a paleontologist, there are several things you can do as a kid to test this dream out. First, look into places that might let you try your hand at digging for fossils. When you reach high school age, you can go to a fossil-finding camp. These take kids into the field for several weeks and let them become fossil hunters.
Cathy Forster has some other tips for would-be paleontologists:
- try to read as much as possible about the subject
- take lots of different science classes in school and college. For example, many paleontologists take courses in geology. This teaches them all about rocks and the history of the earth’s layers. And that’s important because many fossils are buried in rocks. Knowing about rocks helps a paleontologist know where to dig.
Maybe you don’t have a clue what you want to be when you grow up?
That’s fine! Most kids don’t. But how do you find out? Cathy says, "Try a lot of things, and keep your imagination open. Look for the thing that really fires you up. Don’t worry about making lots of money or about what other people say. Pay attention to what you like!"
To learn more about Cathy’s Madagascar work, described in our article, see the book, Digging for Bird Dinosaurs: An Expedition to Madagascar (Scientists in the Field Series), by Nic Bishop, Houghton Mifflin Co., ©2002.