Research Academy - North Dakota (returners only)

Research Academy North Dakota is a program for returning high school campers ready to immerse themselves in the paleontology and geology of incredible soft-tissue fossilization taphonomy. This program is run in partnership with the North Dakota Geological Survey and NDGS paleontologist Dr. Clint Boyd, who have been pioneering techniques to work on such specimens including "Dakota", a fossil mummy Edmontosaurus. Working at established field localities, participants will investigate the extraordinary conditions that allow soft tissues and their microscopic and chemical traces to persist over tens of millions of years. Students will prospect, excavate, and document fossils using the same field strategies employed by professional paleontologists. Additional excursions to regional sites will highlight how shifting geological and paleoenvironmental settings influenced fossil preservation potential in the region during the late Mesozoic.