My wife calls it “Fossil Therapy.” When I come home tired and frustrated from my office job, she’ll encourage me to head downstairs to my prep lab to clean fossils, or study a scientific paper to ID a new specimen, or simply continue populating my inventory database.

I’m passionate about paleontology and I get excited when I can share that passion. I joined the Friends of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, or the “Friends,” 10 years ago and have served as the President for the past 4 years. I’m grateful to have an amazing group of highly skilled amateurs and professionals to develop and feed my passion.

I was surprised and honored when asked to attend the FOSSIL project and present at NAPC about the “Friends.” I quickly realized this was an amazing opportunity for me to meet so many professionals and connect with other paleontology clubs. Then it really started to sink in. I’ll be at the same conference as Dr. Derek Briggs–who studied the soft bodied organisms of the Burgess Shale, Beecher’s Trilobite Bed with soft tissue preservation as well as a pyritized polychaete worm found at Arkona, Ontario by two of our club members. I own Dr. Carlton Brett’s book, Fossil Crinoids and have used it to learn crinoid biology and identify specimens. The list of presenters mirrors my bookshelf. I was delighted to escape the Michigan weather in December and attend a focus group to prepare the workshop agenda. I had the chance to meet members from many Florida area clubs and I learned there is a wide spectrum of interests and needs from the various groups.

The FOSSIL project provides us a unique opportunity to connect clubs nationally, encourage access to museums and professionals, prepare public outreach programs, and, most importantly, share our passion about paleontology with each other. I certainly hope to get some premium “Fossil Therapy” at NAPC and the FOSSIL project workshop.

About the Author

David Clark is the President of Friends of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology.