Re: Avocational micropaleontologists

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Andrew is right--I've never met an avocational micropaleontologist either,
although there were great ones in the past.  Some museums have had amateurs
come in and pick forams, however.  This is not the same as doing
voluntarily at home, but it demonstrates some interest out there.

I was very surprized when someone proposed for our Forams '94 meeting in
Berkeley that we have a special session for teachers.  I said it was a
waste of time, since I assumed teachers would know nothing.  Boy, was I
wrong.  Teachers came, they loved looking at forams brought by Bill Sliter,
Karen Wetmore, Jim Ingle and myself, and they appreciated the lectures and
discussions.  They especially enjoyed meeting micropaleontologists from
other countries--Japan, Germany, Philippines, Texas, France, etc.

I was wrong, and microfossils have since been incorporated into teacher
workshops we've done at AGU (San Fran.) GSA (Denver) and other places.

Don't give up--I think we're getting someplace.  And the teachers really
were impressed that you could do so much more with forams than with
dinosaurs.  They just didn't know!

Jere