More than 99 percent of the species that ever lived are now extinct. If studying past life interests you, you might consider one of the following careers.
If you believe what you see in the movies, fossils are usually found perfectly preserved and intact. But the truth is that fossils are almost always found jumbled and encased in rock. Using microscopes and delicate hand tools, fossil preparators remove fossils from the surrounding rock. Preparators carefully reconstruct damaged pieces and record information about fossil position and rock composition.
Museum guides are educators. But instead of using books to teach, they use museum exhibits. A museum guide at a natural history museum, for example, might have fossils that visitors can touch and manipulate. Museum guides also perform demonstrations and give informal talks.
Paleontologists study extinct and ancient life. It is not all about fossils, however. Today paleontolgists use everything from biochemistry to computer modeling to understand the evolutionary relationships among organisms. Living animals are also sometimes used to study movement, behavior, or development.
Dr. Kristi Curry Rogers, Curator of Paleontology, Science Museum of Minnesota
Dr. Curry Rogers' work is big—very big. Dr. Curry Rogers is a paleontologist who studies how the giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs grew. How can you study how an extinct animal grew over 65 million years ago? By studying microscopic bone structure, Dr. Curry Rogers can estimate how long it took the animal to reach full size. This kind of research can help scientists understand how dinosaurs regulated their body temperature. In addition to questions about sauropod growth, Dr. Curry Rogers is also investigating how different sauropods are related.
“Unlike many kids who go through a ‘fossil phase,' I never grew out of it!”
Choose one of the careers described here. Explain why this career is important to understanding the history of life.