Paleo21- Avocational Paleontologists

From
Date
In response to Billy:


Thanks for the kind words about professionals.  Some are selfish, but what
would you expect from any group of humans?

Professional paleontologists ARE trying to leverage the public enthusiasm
for paleo.  Problem is that most have full-time jobs that do not include
that kind of interaction, so it must be done on the side.  Like many
people, many do not want to take the time.  But some must, and some do,
esp. in Museums.


Let me give you a few examples with the hope that further ideas may emerge:

Professionals have organized two DinoFests and plan a third.  These have
been enormously well attended by several 100,000 people in Indiana and
Arizona.  The next will be in Philadelphia.  [See Paleo Soc Spec Publ.
Number 7.Dino Fest (G.D. Rosenberg & D.L. Wolberg, eds.) v. 7, 1994, 504
p.].   Fossil Fest was held by professionals in Cincinnati and attended by
1000's.  Museums, of course, have both permanent and temporary exhibits on
paleo that bring in millions of visitors/year.  These are developed with
professional guidance.

Many professionals write excellent books for the informed public.  Recent
authors include Steve Gould, Peter Ward, Walter Alvarez, Dave Raup, Niles
Eldredge, Steve Stanley, and others.

You might also check out the "Learning from the Fossil Record" document at
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/fosrec.html to see the efforts of a
large number of professionals and a few amateurs to help teachers across
the nation.  These same people want to and do address the public.

But you are right--in spite of these efforts we do not reach the public in
any significant way.  More must be done.  If you can attend the
Paleontological Society's Annual Business meeting and lunch in Salt Lake
City on October 21, I will give the Presidental Address ("Paleontology--A
candle in the dark") on exactly that subject and what we can do about it.

>Better for everybody is to encourage this interest, use the amateurs as
>a resource of energy, labor or even money.  Archeology has long been
>supported by the fascinated amateurs.  (It turns out that some of them
>are highly successful in their own field and have lots to offer the
>science.)

Absolutely.  We need them, and they need us.   Perhaps to a lesser degree,
the archeology experiance has been duplicated in some places in
paleontology (Denver Museum with their wonderful special training program;
Los Angeles Mus. Nat. Hist. and the So. Calif. Paleo. Soc, an avocational
group; and others).  Certainly more must be done along these lines, and we
need to make the connections.  Those connections can be made from both
sides.  In fact, it is probably easier for amateurs to make the connection
that professionals, since the professionals are easier to locate via
Societies' directories, Internet sites, and publications.  I'd welcome
contacts from avocational groups with addresses for communication, so that
we can start communications.  Email me.
>
>I'm amazed that interest is so high right now among children and
>teenagers, but the professional societies and leaders aren't trying to
>utilize this huge resource.  Many scientists would kill to have that
>kind of interest in their field.

Always has been high, but now is a highwater mark, for sure.   In many
disciplines, scientists who carry the message to the general public are
punished professionally--Carl Sagan is one clear example.  But that is
changing in general, as Universities and other institutions recognize that
their support in one form or another, as well as their future students and
jobs, come from the public.  I hope it continues!

One clear way that professionals and avocationalists can collaborate is in
the organization and support of public events, books, films, TV, and
newspaper items.  We need all the help we can get, and the broader base of
knowledge that the avocationalists possess is a tremendous resource.  If
you are a roofer or truck driver or doctor professionally whose interested
in paleo on the side, then you have many contacts that professional
paleontologists will never have!  And many different ideas that will never
occur to us.  So, by all means, let's get on with it.

I invite MAPS, SCPS, NWPS, BCPA, and all the others to call up a museum or
send an email to let those professionals know who you are and where you
are.  A good way to get them is to invite them to give a talk to your
group.  Sorry guys and gals, but DO IT!

Jere


Jere H. Lipps
Professor, Department of Integrative Biology
Director, Museum of Paleontology
University of California
Berkeley, California 94720 USA

Voice:  510-642-9006.  Fax:  510-642-1822.
Internet:  jlipps@ucmp1.berkeley.edu
WWW:  http://ucmp1.berkeley.edu/jlipps/jlipps.html