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Dear all,
The state university, where I taught Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy for the last three years, had two vertebrate paleontologists until recently (besides me: one in geology and another in biology department), but both vertebrate paleontologist positions have been eliminated upon their retirement, largely as a consequence of the crisis in state budget (and also I no longer work there). A couple of weeks ago, one of my good paleofriends, who holds a paid preparator/outreach position in a paleontology department of a reputable public museum in the U.S., informed me that some museum officials have begun to threaten to eliminate the person's position as a result of budget crunch. It's tough to beat economy. However, the flip side of why we are losing paleontology positions in many parts of the world (as if paleontology being an "expendable science") may indeed stem from politicians' as well as university/museum administrative officials' misconception about paleontology as a scientific field. When an institutional decision has to be made, I get this sense (i.e., I don't have any statistics on this) that paleontology positions are often the first positions to be eliminated in order to save staffing of other science departments. In other words, we (paleontological community as a whole) may be doing a poor job defending our own scientific field (e.g., as the public's misconception seems horrific in Italy, based on Dr. Marco Signore's posting: see below).
As I said above, it's tough to beat economy, but I think "educating" politicians, administrative officials, and the general public, is something we can do. I know it would be a daunting task for the officials of paleontological societies worldwide, but Dr. Oliver Rauhut's suggestion (see below) might be indeed worth pursuing it if possible: i.e., having some kind of international support system/statement for paleontological community. Is the "memo" put together by Swiss Palaeontological Society available through the internet?--and can it be used as a model for a possible "Paleontological U.N." Said that, (after this weekend, as I know everybody has his/her own life as well) I would still like to hear from any officials of any paleontological societies which may be considering to put a supporting letter together at least on behalf of the Palaeontological Institute of the Museum für Naturkunde...and once again, "thank you" in advance.
Kenshu
P.S. Thanks Tim--for revealing your "real" identity!
Dr. Marco Signore (though vrtpaleo list) wrote:
>>> signorem@netlab.it 05/18/02 07:34PM >>>
>>>the situation in Italy is bad as ever. Many universities who have great
palaeontological sites nearby are just not interested in palaeo, being only
interested in some forams and nannoplancton. Furthermore, the few "famous"
specialists here in Italy are called to talk about things they ignore (it
comes to mind someone who said that dinsoaurs could not run becasue they
were too heavy... or another one who said that in Italy no sabertooth tiger
longer than 1 meter ever existed ). I suppose that part of this problem may
be looked for in the primary school and in the common conception of
science. Palaeontology is always seen as a game, to the point that here in
Italy palaoentological books (especially dinosaur ones) are kept in the
children section of the bookshops. No serious effort is made to support
palaeontology (many of us are simply ignored or worse heavily opposed), and
even the authorities care nothing or even oppose palaeontologists. I
believe that at least in Europe we should create a sort of league - a
paneuropean organism of palaeontologists. It may be a good idea, or it may
not be. Only time will tell... and we know a lot about time, don't we?
Dr. Oliver Rauhut (through vrtpaleo list) wrote:
>>> owmrauhut@hotmail.com 05/18/02 08:29AM >>>
>>>Considering that Berlin is not an isolated case (as we heard from colleagues
from France and the Netherlands), maybe a further suggestion: Might it not
be benefitial to try to create a general memo about the importance of
paleontology for our understanding of the history of modern biodiversity,
evolution, biogeography, stratigraphy, depositional environments, etc. to
create a cohesive overview of Palaeontology as a modern science and the
contributions it has to make to many other fields of research. I know that
the Swiss Palaeontological Society did such a memo a few years ago and that
it was well received by politicians and university officials (maybe some of
our Swiss colleagues can fill us in on that). Such a memo should be produced
on a level as broad as possible and might include input from the major
palaeontological societies of the world, as well as societies of related
fields (geology, biology, meteorology, etc.). It might be extremely helpful
if such a memo, signed by officials of as many associations as possible, can
be presented in cases like now in Berlin. Now I know that this would be an
incredible amount of work, but it might be worth it! Just a suggestion!
________________________________
Kenshu Shimada, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Environmental Science Program
and Department of Biological Sciences
DePaul University
2325 N. Clifton Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614, USA
AND
Research Associate in Paleontology
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Fort Hays State University
Hays, KS 67601, USA
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