1. PaleoBlitz: Promoting Best Practices in Paleontology Victor Perez, Ronny Leder, Lisa Lundgren, Shari Ellis, Betty Dunckel
Project Origin
PaleoBlitz Overview
Outcomes & Outputs
Application: Baseline & Motivation (N=25)
The FOSSIL Project team joined amateur paleontology clubs for a collecting field trip to Belgrade Quarry in North Carolina
Amateur paleontologists from throughout the U.S. were invited to participate in a two-day PaleoBlitz, in which participants would catalog fossils from Belgrade
Participants were strategically chosen to include ‘experts’ and ‘novices’ to facilitate mentor-mentee relationships
Day 1: Activity
Purpose
Collections tour at Florida Museum of Natural History
Understand how specimens are organized in a professional collection
Introduction to myFossil website with focus on fossil digitization tutorial (community.myfossil.org)
Make participants aware of online resources for organizing and documenting their personal collections
Curation Stations: Fossil identification, documentation, and curation
Reinforce the types of data that should be recorded when collecting fossils
Wrap-up Discussion
Allow participants to share takeaways from the day, provide feedback, and reinforce key concepts
Figure 2. Participants ranked their knowledge regarding the museum curation process on a 7-point scale from very low to very high.
Figure 3. Applicants’ motivation for collecting fossils.
PostBlitz Questionnaire: Immediate Outcome (N=13)
Figure 4. Participants self-perceived confidence with the museum curation process after the PaleoBlitz.
Objectives
Promote Best Practices: Educate participants about the entire museum curation process, from recording field data to digitizing and curating a collection.
Support the Practice of Paleontology: Understand what motivates and supports individuals in the practice of paleontology.
Refine PaleoBlitz Design: Refine the structure of the PaleoBlitz through participant feedback and staff observations.
Day 2: Activity
Purpose
Collections tour of Gordon Hubbell’s personal collection
See how to optimally display and organize a personal collection
Collecting field trip to Possum Creek in Gainesville, Florida
Provide participants with the opportunity to implement best practices discussed
Wrap-up Discussion
Allow participants to share takeaways from the day, provide feedback, and reinforce key concepts
PostBlitz Questionnaire
Understand participant content gains, anticipated changes in practice, and suggestions for improving the PaleoBlitz
Delayed Questionnaire (2 months after): Outcomes & Outputs (N=13)
Research Design
Figure 5. Changes in practice after the PaleoBlitz.
Figure 7. Social network graph of myFossil. Participants in orange.
Figure 6. Participant outputs after the PaleoBlitz.
Figure 1. Three iterations of data collection with their intended goals and outcomes.