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Hello, I've always found Robert Bakker to be a wonderful inspiration, and wanted the chance to send him an email telling him that. I've never had any success trying to find his email anywhere. I was wondering if anyone had it, or knew where to find it. If so, would you be willing to message it to me? I understand this is a strange request, but thought I'd give it a chance anyway. Mods, feel free to delete if you think that this is inappropriate.

Hi everyone! I have just returned from a fieldschool to Poland which was organized by the BVP (Belgium Society for Paleontology) in association with the Universities of Opole and Gdansk. The fieldschool started on the 9th july and ended on july 17. The first 2-3 days of the trip took place in the historic city of Gdansk which lies by the Baltic Sea where the main focus was on Baltic Amber. This included lectures, workshops, a small museum tour and some trips to the beach in search for amber. For the 2nd part of the trip we travelled to the south towards Opole and more specifically the Jurapark and digsite in Krasiejow where we had multiple lectures, workshops, and fieldwork in both Krasiejow and other quarries in the area. So in this topic I wanted to make a day by day report on this amazing trip and experience. Since we travelled by car I only returned yesterday evening so most of the finds still have to be photographed/prepped so expect them somewhere at the end of this topic (which might also take a few days to complete.)

Hi everyone Okay so, long story short, at my university we have loads of different societies for different interests and topics. Thing is, there's no paleontology society, so I got together with some friends to go about starting one. We're planning it as a general kind of association, open to all students to promote more accessible appreciation for the history of life... We're still in the experimental phase (so we're not even an official society yet!), and right now we're just working on organising the logistics, budget etc... One of the activities we're proposing for the society is a sort of "fossil preparation" workshop, where members can learn safely to extract fossils from (soft) matrix. No pneumatic, or high-tech tools will be involved, just simple dental picks. I was wondering, would some of the UK people here know from where I can buy, in bulk, common fossils that are partially in a matrix or rock. Are there any good suppliers of this kind of stuff? @TqB @Pterygotus @Welsh Wizard @Birdman @JohnBrewer @DE&i On another issue, perhaps more complex... We're also planning on organising day-trips to go fossil hunting at some noteworthy sites in south England (Dover, Folkestone, Lyme Regis etc). I'm wondering about the logistics involved with this. How difficult would it be to get risk assessments sorted out, or should it rather be one of the people from the staff at my uni who takes care of this? And also, how difficult/expensive is it to get a bus hired for ~30 people for a day trip, with 2-3hr travel going and returning? I know there are some fossil/science educators on here, what are your thoughts? @fossilsonwheels @KansasFossilHunter Thank you so much for your help, guys. Christian

I have been in contact with the head of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Museum for a couple years showing some of my better plant fossils from my area. Miocene age, Beluga Formation, This last week I had a Masters Degree student come and visit my collection and my local site. She is going to do her thesis on the local miocene flora. There are papers on plants presumed to be older and younger but none from this section of the formation. I donated approximately 100 lbs of specimens to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North to be used by her then put in the Museum's collection. Based off the papers from other Alaska sites, it appears to be a mix of Salix, Betula, Alnus, Ficus, Populous, Metasequioa, Glyptostrobus, Taxodium and probably others. I know there are at least a few that are not described from this formation based off looking through the papers. Included in the specimens are leaves, twigs, branches, aments (cones and catkins) and other inflorescences. I know there are cones from 3 different families based on shapes and sizes. The student and her professor were quite thrilled and impressed by specimens they were able to take back. I will be donating a lot more from my previous trips after high grading them. And, now I am helping as an offical on-site field agent for this now official University project. So all my digging here for the next 3 years (expected length of project) will be for the university museum. Fine by me as plants are not my #1 fossil to collect.

Hey everyone, The Amateur Paleontologist here - Hope you all are having a great day Haven't been here on TFF in ages, there's been quite a bit going on... First year university studies, work, life in general, Covid-19... But I've really missed the Forum, so I'm glad to be back on. I've managed to carry on with my work on the fossils from the Danish Cretaceous chalk, and I'll be posting here some updates in the next few days. Really happy to be back here, and looking forward to chatting with you guys again

During 2018 and 2020 some rare and spectacular Ammonites had been stored out of the University of Bremen. This was to renew the exhibition. when the exhibition was rebuilt, the fossils were no longer there. If anyone see on of this ammonites: please contact me (f.raquet@aol.de) or Prof. Lehmann from the University (jens.lehmann@uni-bremen.de). The main aim is to get them back. Be sure that any note or hint about them will be treated confidentially. You can see the exhibition at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq0vEppbDHU&t=37s there between minute 1.38 - 1.45 As I cannot add pdf, please contact me or Jens about the official note to give it around. Perhaps there will be given a reward when the University gets it back. thanks for your support. Please, share it! Ask around, share it in all platforms all over the world. It is a dire situation the fossils are stolen from a museum or in general. Lets do everything to stop this! thanks Frank The ammonites are huge (between 40 - 60 cm / around 15 - 25 ") and heavy. Please find attached pictures of them and the official note about it thanks, Frank

Will follow up with current stage photos shortly! Here is what I started with: Unidentified Provenance Unknown Really bad mold mismatch/ thick seam

Fast and dirty: Found this cast a day or two back in the stock room- someone made an attempt...so I’m going to fix it since it uses similar colors to the lion and peccary projects.

Welp. I did it. I got through the last of the fossil boxes. Tons of common stuff and Hundreds of old Ward’s samples to organize and inventory. but the very last specimen in the very last box is worth sharing....

For your enjoyment. These are from another stockroom box. This one was an old Falstaff beer longneck case labeled “Assorted fos. Soix Emp Col geolog. 101” I suspect that means Sioux Empire College which closed in 1985.

Here ya go! Neat stuff! Still haven’t found the teeth...

Hey everyone, This year I've been somewhat less active on the forum, although I did check in regularly to make sure I didn't miss anything important. The main reason for this is because this was my last year in secondary school, and, unsurprisingly, that comes with more work than usual (including university application). Even with corona and home-schooling, my workload didn't exactly diminish. However that doesn't mean I haven't been active in the paleo-field! In fact I have gone hunting quite a few times on the Zandmotor and made some cool finds that I'll share soon, and more recently, during my annual trip to the south of France, did some more successful hunting. In July I also went to the east of the Netherlands to go hunting with my friend @Hunter0811 and we found some pretty nice stuff. (I'll make some trip reports with my finds soon.) This year I started playing around with my dad's camera while in France to take some pictures of different animals I came across (mainly butterflies), ID them and submit them to iNaturalist (an app where you can upload your nature observations and make potentially useful scientific contributions, check it out, it's quite nice!), so that's a fun new little hobby I picked up. So for my 18th birthday, which was 4 days ago, my parents got me a sweet new camera! Despite the cancellation of my final exams (due to corona), I did graduate successfully! And, more importantly, my university application went very well: In October, I will officially be starting my MSci Palaeontology & Evolution at the University of Bristol! I am incredibly excited to start getting into paleontology more professionally and spend the next 4 years of my life studying my lifelong passion. According to the Center for World University Rankings, they are currently the best university worldwide for Paleontology. The city itself also seems really nice and student-friendly. On top of that, the Aust Cliffs are very nearby and that seems like a really interesting location to hunt at (although very different to the Zandmotor!). All in all, I think, and hope, that I'm gonna have a really fun time there, and I couldn't be happier to start this new chapter in my life. And I am glad to now share this news with all my friends on The Fossil Forum, as you guys have definitely played a big role in not only maintaining, but also deepening, my passion for all these "dumb dead rocks", and it has clearly paid off. So a big thanks to all of you in this wonderful community! Love you all! Max

Hey everyone! I am glad to inform you all that I have been offered admission to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly known as Virginia Tech! I only applied to a total of two universities, James Madison University and Virginia Tech, and I've now been accepted into both. Now it is just a matter of making my decision. There is so much to love about both universities. If I choose JMU, I will major in Geology and have the opportunity to work alongside the head of the department, Dr. Stephen A. Leslie, who conducts research surrounding conodonts. There is also a chance that I will be offered the Second Century Scholarship, a scholarship designated for students majoring in a STEM field who show a great deal of interest and dedication to their desired area. If I am granted this scholarship, I will have 75% of my in-state tuition paid for, in which case I will commit to the university beyond a doubt. Now, if I decide to attend Virginia Tech, I will study Geosciences in the College of Science, and have access to the universities outstanding Museum of Geosciences, which features incredible specimens including a complete cast skeleton of Allosaurus. I will be able to work with fantastic faculty, including Dr. Sterling Nesbitt, who has discovered and described many new species in his time as a paleontologist, including the archosaur Nundasuchus in 2007. In order to enter the field of paleontology with hopes of a strong career, one must typically receive a graduate degree, whether it be a Master's or even a PhD. This is something I must take into account when making my decision for undergraduate study. At the moment, my most likely path will be to attend JMU for 4 years and receive my Bachelor's degree, then apply to Virginia Tech for graduate school. Tech has a spectacular graduate vertebrate paleontology research group, which is something I would love to be a part of. I will not likely make my decision until I have heard back from JMU regarding the scholarship, and until I have visited Virginia Tech during their open house for admitted freshmen. I will keep you all posted on my decisions. Regardless of where I end up, I cannot wait to study geology and pursue my dream of becoming a paleontologist. Here is an excerpt from my essay for the Second Century Scholarship. Enjoy! "There is something about prehistoric life that stimulates the mind. Perhaps it is the mystery of the unknown, or the bizarre and unfamiliar appearances of the organisms themselves. Regardless of the forces which drive it, we humans seem to have an inherent interest in the life that called our planet home before us. Many of us can recall a phase in our childhoods when we became practically obsessed with dinosaurs, the mighty beasts which once ruled our planet. This innate fascination typically fades as one ages, but mine has persisted. The history of the earth, spanning from its formation some 4.6 billion years ago to present day, is a magnificent chronicle. It is a tale of merciless competition, crippling disasters, and recurrent resilience. We have managed to piece together fragments of this story, but as of yet it remains largely incomplete. It is my fierce desire to uncover the unknown that has compelled me to pursue an education and career in paleontology." ~David Hoppe