Fossil Prep Methods - Kansas (session 2)

Students will be introduced to a wide variety of professional tools and methods used to clean and stabilize fossils in the Sternberg Museum’s fossil prep lab facility. Emphasis is placed on practicing the cleaning, reassembly, and protection techniques for fossil material. Removing the rock surrounding fossil material, using combinations of small dental tools, airscribes, and pin tools is just the start. Preparators must also be experts with various glues and adhesives for reconstructing and reinforcing the fossils. All the work done in the fossil prep lab is extremely important to the science and work done on any collected fossil specimen. In week one students will focus on essentials of tools, techniques, and lab safety policies as they begin work on their first fossil preparation projects. In week two the students will move to larger fossil specimen projects to apply their new skills upon. In past years students have worked on large jacketed fossils such as mosasaurs, large fish, and mammal material of varying sizes.