<b>[music]</b> <b>In the mid-1880s, fossils of sea creatures</b> <b>were discovered in the chalk beds of western</b> <b>Kansas.</b> <b>In the decades since, generations of paleontologists have</b> <b>continued to be inspired by the mysteries</b> <b>of the Great Plains' ancient past.</b> <b>[Music]</b> <b>[Music]</b> <b>Northwest Kansas and western third</b> <b>of the state is rich with the fossils of the</b> <b>Cretaceous Age, the geological age</b> <b>that's in the chalk rock or the yellow rock</b> <b>that's very prominent in the high</b> <b>plains.

There was at one time a shallow sea, so</b> <b>these ancient creatures have sunk to the</b> <b>bottom and were immediately covered over</b> <b>so they weren't exposed out so they</b> <b>were able to fossilize.

And paleontology is</b> <b>the study of ancient life.

Although it's</b> <b>been going on for 160 years out here in</b> <b>the high plains with the Sternbergs</b> <b>starting back in the 19th century and</b> <b>carrying through in a big Sternberg</b> <b>Museum in Hays, there are still a lot of</b> <b>new discoveries that are being made and</b> <b>new classifications of critters because</b> <b>there's more data now than there used</b> <b>to be for comparison analysis and stuff.</b> <b>So we have a person in Scott City now by</b> <b>the name of Kristopher Super going into</b> <b>the paleontology and the fossil record</b> <b>and working on the preservation of it.</b> <b>So my name is Kristopher Super.

We're here at</b> <b>the El Quartelijo Museum.

This is in Scott City,</b> <b>way out in western Kansas here.

The</b> <b>room we're standing in here is our Western</b> <b>Kansas Fossil Lab.

In the center of</b> <b>our lab here you see we've got this giant</b> <b>slab of rock.

Within this slab of rock</b> <b>are the bones of a really cool fossil</b> <b>animal called an elasmosaur.

This was an</b> <b>animal that I discovered on my birthday</b> <b>back in March of 2021 and since</b> <b>then we've gone through the process of</b> <b>excavating, collecting, removing the</b> <b>bones and now we're here in the lab</b> <b>preparing the fossil.

So how do I know</b> <b>where to find a fossil?

For me I begin on</b> <b>something like Google Earth, you know, I'm</b> <b>like, "Hey, what are the options?

Where are</b> <b>things at?"

But you can't just walk out</b> <b>on anybody's pasture, right?

This is in</b> <b>Kansas, I think it's like 99% privately</b> <b>owned land, you know.

In other states like</b> <b>Colorado maybe have more Bureau of</b> <b>Land Management, more federal lands where</b> <b>there's different rules.

So you do have</b> <b>to know kind of the rules to play by and</b> <b>in this case it involves getting the</b> <b>permission of the people who own the land.</b> <b>In this case we had some really great</b> <b>landowners we're working with.

They're</b> <b>really open to this whole process</b> <b>here.

So I was kind of going up this great</b> <b>Chalky Valley and not finding a lot that</b> <b>day.

It was kind of sometimes you'll step</b> <b>out of the car, you find a fossil right</b> <b>away.

Other times you'll walk for hours</b> <b>and hours not having a lot of luck.

It</b> <b>was one of those days.

Coming to the top</b> <b>of the hill I was looking across, I saw</b> <b>some chunks on the surface there.

I said</b> <b>"Hey, okay, look like interesting chunks.

"</b> <b>Got a little bit closer, started using my</b> <b>detail eyes, right?

And saw that, "Hey,</b> <b>well these aren't just any kind of chunks,</b> <b>these are pieces of bone."

I saw a</b> <b>vertebra part of the spine that was slightly sort</b> <b>of figure eight shape.

There were a</b> <b>few other characteristics that helped me</b> <b>identify kind of what group animals</b> <b>this I was looking at here.

Then I</b> <b>started kind of scratching into the hill</b> <b>a little bit.

Those one or two bones on</b> <b>the surface became six, seven, eight,</b> <b>ten, twelve bones.

And then at that point we</b> <b>had a whole excavation going.

There</b> <b>were a series of vertebrae that were</b> <b>articulated, meaning they're still kind</b> <b>of together in sequence.

I followed that</b> <b>sequence of vertebrae back for about</b> <b>six feet or so.

On either side of those</b> <b>vertebrae there were big paddle bones,</b> <b>something like you might like a humerus</b> <b>or a femur.

Some of the ribs were</b> <b>nearly a meter long, which starts to suggest</b> <b>that the size of the animal we're</b> <b>dealing with here.

Once we figured out</b> <b>where most of the bone layer was, the</b> <b>trick of collecting it without destroying</b> <b>it was the idea.

So this is how</b> <b>we collect a fossil in some cases.</b> <b>This is just burlap, which you might see</b> <b>for a potato sack or that kind of thing.</b> <b>I run it through plaster of Paris and I</b> <b>usually put a separator over the bone.</b> <b>You don't want to put the plaster</b> <b>directly onto the bone, so something like</b> <b>paper towels or aluminum foil to create</b> <b>a layer of separation works pretty good.</b> <b>Then if you look at our slab here,</b> <b>you'll see a series of layers built up like</b> <b>layers of a tree maybe.

The idea here</b> <b>is just to prevent any sort of moving or</b> <b>cracking of the bones.

If you try to</b> <b>pick them up, they would just crumble into a</b> <b>million tiny fragments.

The whole</b> <b>plastering or jacketing process was next.</b> <b>Then we sort of undercut this giant</b> <b>slab and had about ten 4-H-ers help us</b> <b>flip it over.

Then we were able to</b> <b>kind of back it out of that valley and</b> <b>bring it to the museum here where</b> <b>we're now doing the preparation phase.</b> <b>That involves using a variety of tools.</b> <b>Things like this air scribe is one of the</b> <b>tools we use.

This is basically like</b> <b>a vibrating steel pencil powered by</b> <b>compressed air.

This tool works</b> <b>really good.

This large one is best for</b> <b>removing bulk material when you're</b> <b>farthest away from the bones.

As we get</b> <b>closer and closer to the bones, we</b> <b>switch to smaller and smaller tools.

The very</b> <b>last bit I'll actually do under</b> <b>magnification, under microscope, just to</b> <b>really get that last little bit.

We'll</b> <b>maybe use things like air abrasives to</b> <b>kind of further clean the surface.</b> <b>It's just a variety of very patient</b> <b>sort of detail-oriented work for hours</b> <b>and hours and days and days.

It's not</b> <b>something you want to rush.

These</b> <b>are very rare animals.

This is a very</b> <b>important data point in the story of</b> <b>our Western Kansas fossil heritage.</b> <b>You don't want to ruin it or</b> <b>make any mistakes.

Like I said, the</b> <b>animal we're working on here is called</b> <b>an Elasmosaur.

You might know them as</b> <b>the Loch Ness Monster.

They're a</b> <b>reptile, a marine reptile, meaning they</b> <b>lived in the oceans, but they're famous</b> <b>for that unusual long neck.

This really</b> <b>connects to some of the earliest</b> <b>paleo stories in Kansas.

We have up in</b> <b>Fort Wallace in the 1860s, there was an</b> <b>army doctor up there who found a similar</b> <b>specimen.

That kind of set off the</b> <b>investigations into what these animals</b> <b>are, how they work, all that kind of</b> <b>stuff.

There have been about a dozen or</b> <b>so individual Elasmosaurs found in</b> <b>Kansas, but most of those consist of just</b> <b>chunks, just fragments, a few</b> <b>vertebrae here, maybe a paddle bone here, just</b> <b>very sort of elusive.

To find the</b> <b>skull with the body is incredibly rare.</b> <b>For some reason, you imagine the skull</b> <b>on the end of this giant sort of fishing</b> <b>pole here, it just tends to want to</b> <b>separate, I guess, or maybe things were</b> <b>tearing it off or who knows, but for</b> <b>some reason the skulls are not often found</b> <b>with the bodies.

There's questions</b> <b>about why that is and to have the skull</b> <b>with this specimen is what makes it so</b> <b>significant.

This specimen is going to</b> <b>help us answer all sorts of questions</b> <b>about the anatomy of this animal, about</b> <b>sort of the ecology of this animal, how</b> <b>it lived, what he can tell us about that</b> <b>past environment, when this was</b> <b>underwater, right?

Something like the skull, we're</b> <b>going to get it micro CT scanned,</b> <b>we're going to be able to see all these new</b> <b>features.

Ideally, we're going to get a</b> <b>number of scientific publications from</b> <b>the specimen, some of which may focus</b> <b>on the anatomy of the skull.

A lot of the</b> <b>post cranial, the stuff behind the</b> <b>skull is not well known.

For example, the</b> <b>original one, the Fort Wallace</b> <b>specimen, the pectoral and pelvic griddles were</b> <b>destroyed and so we have sketches of</b> <b>them, but to have actual, you know, things</b> <b>to compare to are great.

Yeah, ever since</b> <b>I was a little toddler, I remember picking</b> <b>out horn corals in the gravel of our</b> <b>front yard there, but one of the big</b> <b>moments for me was I was in the Boy</b> <b>Scouts, we took a trip over to Castle Rock,</b> <b>which is in Eastern Grove County.

I</b> <b>was always, I've been a longtime fan of</b> <b>climbing on stuff, you know, whether it's</b> <b>the 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado or just</b> <b>the chalk bluffs in Western Kansas and</b> <b>climbing to the top of one of these big</b> <b>bluffs, I was probably 10 or 11 years</b> <b>old, I found a shark tooth on the top of this</b> <b>tower in a cow pasture and I said, "Okay,</b> <b>well, what's the story here?

How did this</b> <b>get here?"

That led me to Oceans of</b> <b>Kansas, that book by Mike Everhart, which I just</b> <b>just tore through that book and</b> <b>that point I was hooked, you know.</b> <b>My name is Mike Everhart.

I'm an</b> <b>adjunct curator of paleontology at the</b> <b>Sternberg Museum of Natural History in</b> <b>Hayes, Kansas.

I've been interested in</b> <b>paleontology since the fifth grade.

I</b> <b>had a teacher that introduced me to rocks.</b> <b>She was a rock collector, but she</b> <b>also showed me fossils too and then came</b> <b>across the book by Roy Chaplin</b> <b>Andrews, who was a famous paleontologist years</b> <b>ago in the teens and he had two</b> <b>oceans of Kansas and that got me</b> <b>hooked on the idea that here we were in the</b> <b>middle of North America and this was</b> <b>once an ocean for millions of years.

So</b> <b>when I got into college, I got an</b> <b>opportunity to go to Western Kansas and</b> <b>collect sharks' teeth for the first time</b> <b>in Ellis County and things just kind of</b> <b>grew from that.

I collected my first</b> <b>Mosasaur, gosh, 50 years ago and been</b> <b>doing it ever since.

You know, the</b> <b>hobby to begin with and then when I</b> <b>retired from Boeing, my wife and I</b> <b>picked it up for almost full-time.

We were out</b> <b>there three weekends a month, that</b> <b>sort of thing.

So collecting, donating</b> <b>fossils, writing papers, and</b> <b>eventually writing the Oceans of Kansas books,</b> <b>first and second edition.

The</b> <b>first fossils from Kansas were actually</b> <b>discovered in the 1860s and 1870s and</b> <b>part of that was the Western Movement.</b> <b>In late 1860s, a railroad was built from,</b> <b>would have been from Kansas City all the</b> <b>way to Denver.

In order to do that,</b> <b>there were three forts that were in place</b> <b>across the state, Fort Harker, Fort</b> <b>Hayes, and then Fort Wallace almost to the</b> <b>Colorado border.

And with that, some</b> <b>of the most educated people in the state</b> <b>were the military doctors that were</b> <b>assigned to those forts and they became</b> <b>the first real fossil collectors here in</b> <b>Kansas.

Dr. Sternberg, who was the uncle</b> <b>of Charlie Sternberg and great uncle of</b> <b>George Sternberg, was a military doctor</b> <b>out of Fort Harker and he collected the</b> <b>type specimen of the big fish we called</b> <b>xiphacttinus.

And then farther west</b> <b>at Fort Wallace, Dr. Theophilus Turner</b> <b>discovered the first known</b> <b>elasmosaur, elasmosaurus platyurus, in the late</b> <b>1868, I believe.

But that's also the</b> <b>largest fossil collected in the world at</b> <b>that particular time and that kind</b> <b>of sparked a fossil rush to Kansas.</b> <b>Dr.

Turner's elasmosaur went to Edward</b> <b>Cope, a paleontologist in Philadelphia.

But the</b> <b>first leading paleontologist to make his</b> <b>way to Kansas was Cope's rival, O.C.

Marsh.</b> <b>Cope and Marsh were the prominent</b> <b>paleontologists in the 1870s and 80s.

Marsh</b> <b>came out here with a group of students,</b> <b>graduate students, from Yale College in</b> <b>1870 and collected mosasaurs and all</b> <b>kinds of other fossils from the chalk.</b> <b>He discovered the wing bones of the</b> <b>first pteranodon and figured out how big</b> <b>it was and everything and it really got</b> <b>him excited about Kansas.

Cope actually</b> <b>hired people to collect for him in</b> <b>Kansas.

From then on, you know, Kansas was</b> <b>exporting lots and lots, literally</b> <b>thousands of specimens.

Cope and Marsh</b> <b>both were looking for the biggest and</b> <b>the baddest of everything, particularly</b> <b>things with teeth or giant size, the</b> <b>largest dinosaurs or the most, you know,</b> <b>whatever.

So big was better and</b> <b>that allowed them or caused them to</b> <b>overlook a lot of fossils here in</b> <b>Kansas.

And the other thing was going on</b> <b>with Marsh, he ended up being</b> <b>terribly interested in birds and pterosaurs,</b> <b>pteranodon from Kansas.

He wasn't</b> <b>interested in fishes and he literally</b> <b>told his collectors to leave those for</b> <b>Sternberg.

Cope happened to hire a young</b> <b>Charlie Sternberg.

I think he was 24</b> <b>years old here in Kansas and he went on</b> <b>to to marry and have three sons that</b> <b>went into paleontology.

They were kind of</b> <b>the second wave in the state along with</b> <b>Williston and some other paleontologists</b> <b>out of the University of Kansas.

Then</b> <b>they started collecting dinosaurs and</b> <b>moved up into the northwest into Montana</b> <b>and finally into Canada.

George came back</b> <b>to Kansas and set up shop in western</b> <b>Kansas out of Oakley and he was actually</b> <b>paying the rent for his lab facility</b> <b>out in Oakley, Kansas by giving fossils to</b> <b>the local school system.

He thought</b> <b>every school should have fossils on</b> <b>display for kids to learn about these</b> <b>things.

Well in the process he managed to</b> <b>promote himself enough to Fort Hays</b> <b>that they hired him as their museum</b> <b>director at the State Teachers College.</b> <b>He had collected the fish and the fish.</b> <b>He'd done a tremendous amount of stuff</b> <b>out there within western Kansas fossils.</b> <b>Still we were missing out on a lot</b> <b>of little things and the connections</b> <b>between the little things.

People did not understand the</b> <b>stratigraphy and the age of fossils</b> <b>relative to one another.

The chalk</b> <b>is five million years old from top</b> <b>to bottom but there's a very steady</b> <b>progression of species within that time</b> <b>period.

There was a big opportunity when</b> <b>I started collecting to see some of</b> <b>the little things and see some of the</b> <b>connections.

I made another kind of</b> <b>major discovery in 2012.

We were on a family</b> <b>reunion and a lot of my family had never</b> <b>been to Castle Rock.

I'm like guys it's</b> <b>the coolest area ever we got to go</b> <b>check this out.

During that family</b> <b>reunion I ended up finding the bones of</b> <b>small sort of fish like animal.

Wasn't</b> <b>really sure.

Took it home.

I was kind of</b> <b>working on it.

A piece slipped off.

Turned</b> <b>it over.

There was a complete fossil</b> <b>eel on the inside.

That was the first</b> <b>introduction.

I reached out to</b> <b>Mike Everhart.

I said hey this is</b> <b>something really cool.

What do you</b> <b>think about this?

He said this is something</b> <b>that should be donated to the museum</b> <b>where it can be studied.

I went ahead</b> <b>and did that.

That put me in touch</b> <b>with a lot of the Sternberg folks.

I was</b> <b>lucky to be part of the very first</b> <b>Sternberg Science Summer Camp back in</b> <b>2014.

That one was focused on field</b> <b>work.

We collected the bones of a Mosasaur.</b> <b>Learned about some of the methods involved in collecting and</b> <b>photographing and removing a specimen</b> <b>from the field like that.

Since then</b> <b>David's taken that and really grown</b> <b>it further.

Now they have sort of a lab</b> <b>component, a museum component.

It's really</b> <b>great to see what they've done with that.</b> <b>Hi there.

My name is David Levering.

I am</b> <b>the Camps Director here at the Sternberg</b> <b>Museum of Natural History here in</b> <b>Hays.

Most of my job involves working with</b> <b>middle and high school kids.

A lot of our</b> <b>program is field-based and a lot of the</b> <b>field-based programs we do, especially</b> <b>here in Kansas, revolve around vertebrate</b> <b>paleontology.

I'm just like a really,</b> <b>I'm a paleontology nerd.

I've been really</b> <b>into stuff since I was like two.

This is</b> <b>my first actual paleontology experience.</b> <b>I've learned how to prospect.

</b> <b>Our students are</b> <b>really, really excited to finally get to</b> <b>excavate.

Now that we are here they spent</b> <b>the first day establishing a grid so that</b> <b>they can record where the fossils are</b> <b>coming out of and we don't lose that</b> <b>information as we take things out.</b> <b>And they also flagged anything that they</b> <b>thought looked interesting.

We didn't</b> <b>really give them a lot of information</b> <b>about how to find fossils day one</b> <b>because we wanted them to figure it out</b> <b>and we wanted them to flag things</b> <b>that weren't fossils too so that we could</b> <b>talk about what fossils were and what</b> <b>some of the other rocks were as well.

So</b> <b>today they're going around back to</b> <b>those flags and recording where they are and</b> <b>collecting them in a really systematic</b> <b>way.

And we make a big map of three by</b> <b>three grids so we can absolutely make</b> <b>sure we have everything.

We take pictures</b> <b>for context.

We make sure we have</b> <b>something of scale next to it so we can</b> <b>determine how big it is.

It needs to be</b> <b>used during research and so it's easy to</b> <b>determine what it is.

My name is Georgie</b> <b>and I'm the master mapper.

So what that</b> <b>means is for the grid I write down</b> <b>where we find fossils in the grid.

In D2</b> <b>we found a tooth so that was the second</b> <b>fossil we found.

So it was number two.

If</b> <b>we don't have the map then we have no</b> <b>organization which is very bad.

I've just</b> <b>kind of always had an interest in</b> <b>fossils and paleontology.

That is the</b> <b>field or one of the fields that I would</b> <b>like to go into when I grow up.

We found a</b> <b>really cool tooth.

Nathan found a really</b> <b>cool tooth yesterday.

When I first found</b> <b>the tooth I thought it was a cashew that</b> <b>someone had previously left.

I uncovered</b> <b>it more from the sand and I realized oh</b> <b>it has a root.

That's not a cashew.

I found</b> <b>something that Dr. Simpson said could be</b> <b>like the name of a small animal and then</b> <b>I found another funky boat.

Dr.</b> <b>Simpson said could be pelvis or a skull.

I've</b> <b>come out here just to get more experience and paleontology and</b> <b>honestly more importantly geology just</b> <b>as a whole to further enrich myself a</b> <b>little bit.

</b> <b>Where are you from?</b> <b>Georgia.

</b> <b>Oh wow you came a ways.

Yep.</b> <b> We are D5.</b> <b>We are hole D...

Pit, square D5?

</b> <b>Square D5.

Grid D5 yes.

So</b> <b>we're taking the photo to mark where it was on our</b> <b>big map.

It's a tiny little piece.

I found this one yesterday.</b> <b>And then we have to record the site</b> <b>number.

The date or site number which</b> <b>is of the date the coordinate session and</b> <b>fossil number.

This is our ninth fossil of</b> <b>the day.

</b> <b>Learning facts and figures a lot of</b> <b>the students will come in knowing a</b> <b>lot of that stuff.

They'll come there we</b> <b>typically get kids that are already</b> <b>very excited about science.

Their ability</b> <b>to think about multiple kinds of</b> <b>information simultaneously and create a</b> <b>comprehensive question that could be</b> <b>used to investigate something.

That is</b> <b>an area that we do a lot of work with</b> <b>them to develop and that's something</b> <b>that our students typically cite at the</b> <b>end of camp is something that they feel</b> <b>they've gotten a lot better at is</b> <b>thinking about the interrelationship</b> <b>between different kinds of information</b> <b>and the connectivity between different</b> <b>areas of science as a result.</b> <b> I'm Carson Cope.</b> <b>I'm the instructor for </b> <b>this camp</b> <b>and here we</b> <b>are doing advanced fossil</b> <b>preparation.

What that entails is teaching these</b> <b>high school students everything that</b> <b>goes on with fossils for a moment to</b> <b>come from fields to a moment to enter</b> <b>our collections.

That's restoring these</b> <b>fossils cleaning rock and sediment off of</b> <b>them putting them back together.

Yeah so</b> <b>something we do typically right at the</b> <b>beginning when we get the fossil is we</b> <b>sketch it so that we can both have a</b> <b>documentation of what it looked like when</b> <b>we started and also just take notes of</b> <b>anything important like any structures</b> <b>or possible areas of concern.

So this</b> <b>is my personal project it is part of a</b> <b>mosasaur jaw.

You can kind of see some</b> <b>of the matrix on this first tooth as you</b> <b>can see the progress that's been</b> <b>made there and also some slight progress</b> <b>over here.

Other aspects are that if I</b> <b>flip it over you can see that this is</b> <b>one of the major areas of concern I was</b> <b>talking about.

There's this pretty large</b> <b>crack it runs through both sides</b> <b>although it's slightly more noticeable</b> <b>here.

So this is a mosasaur skull</b> <b>these are these giant extinct lizards that</b> <b>swim in the Cretaceous Sea waves of</b> <b>Kansas.

So what we're trying to figure</b> <b>out right now is it looks like we found</b> <b>a lot of teeth near a skull and this is</b> <b>very common in prep work that we find</b> <b>fragments of bones especially teeth.</b> <b>Teeth are very fragile and so we're</b> <b>just trying to ascertain where they are try</b> <b>and find more of them and hopefully</b> <b>we'll be able to piece them together.

It's</b> <b>very neat to find all these teeth.

I'm</b> <b>currently living in China and I've lived</b> <b>there for around 11 years or so and we</b> <b>we heard about the great camps here in</b> <b>Kansas and doing all this work</b> <b>surrounding like paleontology and</b> <b>fossils which can provide a great</b> <b>research and like learning opportunity.</b> <b>I think it was my mom who stumbled</b> <b>across the Sternberg camps online and</b> <b>they seemed pretty perfect because they</b> <b>had a wide variety of different things</b> <b>so it wasn't just field they also had</b> <b>fossil prep and last year I did a camp</b> <b>about the physics of dinosaurs and</b> <b>marine vertebrates which was really fun.</b> <b>Well for me it was when I was really</b> <b>young I was one of those kids who really</b> <b>liked dinosaurs and then as I got older</b> <b>I kind of grew more into enjoying just</b> <b>the general science of it.

I just</b> <b>really liked the idea of looking at these</b> <b>fossils which are the only things</b> <b>we have of these living creatures and</b> <b>reconstructing them and figuring out</b> <b>how they would have lived and what life</b> <b>would have been like back then</b> <b>because it's just so different and it really</b> <b>interested me in that way.</b> <b>The High Plains and especially Kansas one of the</b> <b>richest places for Cretaceous</b> <b>fossils in the world.

You know we've been</b> <b>collecting in the Smoky Hill Chalk</b> <b>for 170 years now even so in the last 10</b> <b>years 10-15 years I've been part of</b> <b>naming six new species of animals and</b> <b>these aren't little animals these are</b> <b>big things that came from this state and</b> <b>I'm here to say that if I can do it</b> <b> it means that anybody else that is</b> <b>interested in seriously pursuing</b> <b>paleontology in western Kansas is gonna</b> <b>find something new too.

When I was very</b> <b>young in the Boy Scouts you know a lot</b> <b>of my information was coming from that</b> <b>book Oceans of Kansas and I had read it</b> <b>and reread it and tried to learn</b> <b>everything about it.

Mike then came out</b> <b>with the second edition just recently</b> <b>and paging to the second edition I found</b> <b>that I was included in that second</b> <b>edition a number of times for discoveries</b> <b>I had made since reading that first</b> <b>book so that was quite a moment yeah to go</b> <b>from reading a book to being in the</b> <b>book yeah.

One of the reasons I like it</b> <b>so well preservation is great and</b> <b>lots of times you find fairly complete</b> <b>animals and it's easy to dig them up</b> <b>but on the flip side of that if we're</b> <b>not collecting these specimens these</b> <b>bones as they come out as they rode out</b> <b>of the chalk mother nature will destroy</b> <b>them in the space of a few years.

They've</b> <b>been preserved perfectly for millions</b> <b>of years but once they come out on the</b> <b>surface if we don't pick them up they're</b> <b>gone.

Education is so important and you</b> <b>know from just from my experience as</b> <b>a fifth grader my teacher caught my</b> <b>attention that year and I never stopped</b> <b>looking.

I've collected fossils for more</b> <b>than 70 years and I'd love to go do it</b> <b>again tomorrow.

There's something to go</b> <b>out there and uncover something that has</b> <b>been on the ground for millions of years</b> <b>and you're the first person ever to see</b> <b>it and if you can get kids to look at it</b> <b>that way I mean to understand that hey</b> <b>you found something nobody else has ever</b> <b>seen.

Can't get much more better than that.</b> <b>[music]</b>