Nebraska State Museum Vertebrate Paleontology Collections Department

Description

The Nebraska State Museum is an institution that preserves protects the natural history of Nebraska. It promotes the discovery of our natural world and world cultures and accomplishes this mission through research, museum collections, learner-centered educational programs, and public exhibitions. Among its collections is the vertebrate paleontology department that manages all of the collected vertebrate fossils and dates back to the mid-1800s.

Roles

I joined the Collections Department as a volunteer in the spring semester of 2017. I worked as a preparator for fossils because I had plenty of experience preparing them myself. I used benchtop tools like dremels, air jacks, picks, brushes, and glue to carefully remove matrix and preserve fossil specimens. 

Takeaways

Originally, I was seeking a volunteer opportunity for class credit but I also wanted to get my foot in the door at the museum. As a young child, my parents brought me to the museum because of my paleontological interest. Getting the opportunity to volunteer at the museum and see all the collections was nothing short of amazing. It gave me a new appreciation for all the time and effort curators and museum staff put into preserving their items. It also taught me to be patient and understanding with specimens and people.