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Hello! My name is Raúl Falcón, and I am a design student at the Rhode Island School of Design. I’m currently working on a research project focused on online paleontology resources for anyone interested in dinosaurs and paleontology. I would appreciate your feedback and input on this project, which can be accessed through the attached link here. This research project is part of my Design Principles class User Experience Final project. The goal of this study is to gain insight into how individuals learn about prehistoric life and engage with online learning resources. To achieve this, participants will be asked to complete a form with three questions related to their learning experiences and preferences for educational content. Please note that all responses will be kept confidential and used solely for research purposes. My ultimate objective is to develop online paleontology resources that cater to the needs and preferences of anyone interested in paleontology. I would be more than happy to respond to any questions or comments you may have. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email at rfalcon@risd.edu. Thank you for your time and assistance in this project. Best regards, Raúl

Preliminary work...(fossil report to follow if you want to skip this) About a month ago, my father and I found a site we had never been to. We discovered that Ectenaspis beckeri parts were in a specific zone at this site and decided to come back on Oct. 6th to find some more for our study collection. We also wanted to do a little mapping to figure out exactly where we were in the formation. There are two cuts about a quarter mile apart, one at the bottom(cut A) and one towards the top of the hill(cut B ). Through much research, we found out that cut B exposed the contact between the Clermont and Ft. Atkinson members of the Maquoketa formation. We also found out that when cut B was made the contact between the Elgin and Clermont members was exposed in the ditch. This gave us a baseline to figure out where in the section we were. There is a small bridge at the bottom of the hill near cut A so we contacted the Iowa Geological Survey and got the exact elevation of the bridge. We also got the elevation of the top of the Galena formation from the IGS at various points in the area recorded from core samples. The Elgin member of the Maquoketa fm. lies directly on top of the Galena formation. Since my father works at and engineering firm, he had easy access to a theodolite and leveling rod. We started at the bridge(since we knew the elevation) and worked our way up the hill to cut B. We took a number of measurements and recorded the change in elevation between the bridge and the contact between the Elgin and Clermont members. We then shot from the bridge to the end of cut A and recorded that elevation change. We then measured the height of the cut and the thickness and elevation of the zone that was producing the E. beckeri parts. Why did we do all this? Well, this information will give us the exact thickness of the Elgin member(in this area), the elevation of the E. beckeri zone, the "slope" of the Maquoketa fm.(in this area), and the potential to be able to map other possible E. beckeri sites. It will also be useful when we eventually donate our collection to a University, the more info the better. Now that our preliminary work was done we could finally start collecting! Next post... A picture of my father surveying the hill. I was behind the camera/phone holding the leveling rod.