No Stone Unturned

Updates

• Yesterday in the lab we were playing with (read: working with) Legos and clay. In the Burpee lab we use Legos and clay to help us make molds of bones. These molds can be used to create casts, or replicas, of whole or partial specimens. This is particularly useful if we need to take a real specimen or bone off of display - instead of leaving an empty space in the exhibit, we can put the cast replica out in its place. Yesterday we were specifically making molds of vertebrae from an extinct alligatoroid called Stangerochampsa sp. (nicknamed "Ernie") that was discovered in Montana in 2008.  "Ernie" will be part of the new Homer exhibit. So far we've made molds and casts of "Ernie's" scutes, and most of his forelimb and hindlimb material.Today we'll pour the other half of this mold, and next week we will be able to make casts of these vertebrae to check how good our mold is.
•   Even though the the debut of the Homer's Odyssey is more than 6 months away, we're busy in the lab getting ready. Part of getting ready includes the materials in the above picture: Legos, clay, and tools ... bones too, but they didn't make the picture. Does anyone know what we're doing in the lab today based on what's in the picture? Take a guess and see if you're right. We'll post the answer and some additional information tomorrow.
• Only one person guessed it, the crates are components of the new Homer exhibit that will be opening in May. In the three crates were four different Ceratopsid skull casts. We received the "Kelsey" Triceratops skull from the Black Hills Institute, and casts of Utahceratops, Coahuilaceratops, Zuniceratops from Gaston Design.These will all be part of the upcoming "Homer's Odyssey: From the Badlands to Burpee" exhibit that will feature Homer, our juvenile trike, and the fauna of the Hell Creek formation.
• Facebook generated some interesting suggestions of what might be in our crates of unusual size. Guesses included: - Rodents of Unusual Size (Thankfully no, that would be very bad to have in collections and decidedly not in line with our pest management policy.) -Pencils (Useful, but no.) -Evidence for the Gamera or Behemoth's existence (Sorry, still no evidence on that front.) -Beer (Regrettably, not.) -New Curator (I'd like to think we'd at least have a new curator delivered via air mail instead of ground freight). Now, I should point out that there is more than one Crate of Unusual Size -  there are actually three. All are large, but are not the same size. And, here's the hint, they all contain items that are related to one another, but don't go together. Keep your guesses coming through comments here on the blog and on Facebook, we'll reveal the contents tomorrow!
• Working in a museum you learn to expect receiving unusual shipments, parcels, and occasionally letters. Sometimes the shipments are noted for their unusual contents, or far flung origin. But recently at Burpee we have been receiving crates of unusual size. These crates were (thankfully) not unexpected and are here in preparation for some exciting changes that will be happening at the museum. The pictures included today are of the first crate that arrived, we'll post pictures tomorrow of the whole set (3 in total, not all the same size) and maybe a little hint about what lies inside. Do you think you know what is in our Crates of Unusual Size? Leave us a comment and see if you're right!  
• The last of the Montana dig sites have been put to bed and the Burpee Crew is moving on to other destinations. Before returning to Rockford, Scott and Steve will be taking Katie to her latest and greatest destination, Montana State University in Bozeman, MT! As you may remember from her post earlier this summer, Katie will be earning her Master's degree at MSU as she works in the Horner Lab as a research assistant. The Burpee family will miss Katie, but is behind her 110% as she pursues this endeavor! Stay tuned for a field season photo recap and new posts from the lab!
• Week one of the 2012 Highway to Hell Creek Expeditions is off to a great start. We have had success at all four sites we are working this season. Top finds include: turtles (yes, plural), new vertebrae at one triceratops site, and skull material at both the hadrosaur and the other triceratops site. We are honored to have had Dr. Tyler Lyson visit the site to advise on some of our recently found turtle specimens and make a stratigraphic (strat) column to help better understand the geology of the site. Additionally, we have had the pleasure of collaborating with Ekalaka native Nate Carroll  and Jade Simon as well as meeting Dr. Rich Schultz and Dr. Merrilee Guenther from Elmhurst College. We are also very excited to have Dr. Thomas Holtz, Tyrannosaur expert, spending the week with us at Camp Needmore! Thus far, this week has been wonderful and we hope to keep great things coming!
• The Hell Creek Burpee quarries are ready for the official field season to start! This year we'll be working out of (primarily) four quarries: two Triceratops sites, one awesome turtle locality, and a hadrosaur site. Based on the early finds so far, we are anticipating another great year in the Hell Creek!
• Scott, Katie, and Steve Clawson (one of our talented preparators) headed to Montana on Saturday. Since arriving, they have picked up all the necessary permits from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office, started to get camp set up and ready for the field crew that will trickle in over the next few days, and have already made some good finds in the field! Needless to say, they have been busy!! Despite getting some much needed rain Monday night, they still managed to to a little fossil hunting today - turning up a late Cretaceous turtle carapace and plastron and some theropod limb elements. Keep your fingers crossed that this keeps up!
• Attention any and all interested parties: There will be an expedition orientation tomorrow at Burpee Museum from 1-3pm for anyone interested in our upcoming Highway to Hell Creek (Montana) expeditions. There are spaces still available for the Hell Creek Expeditions.  So stop on by, ask questions and learn about what the expedition experience is like (or email us if you're not nearby) and sign up if you decide you'd like to join us in Montana. We're looking forward to seeing you there! Additional information about our Highway to Hell Creek Expeditions can be found here: http://www.burpee.org/education/expeditions.asp
• 06.25.12 - The Burpee Crew made it safely back to Illinois with a trailer full of fossils in tow. We made it most of the way with no problems, but noticed a bulge in one of the trailer tires part way through the second day's drive. We took things slow from there and made it back late Sunday night. (Or really early Monday morning, depending how you look at it.) Wrapping up the site went very well. We have a lot of exciting things waiting for us next year! Stay tuned for an update about the trailer's arrival at the Burpee Museum sometime later this week :)
• We wrapped up the last of the official free tours at the quarry today. Over 300 people visited the quarry for a tour. Some came from the surrounding area, others traveled from across the state, country, and even the world. We had several visitors from overseas - including Germany and Belgium. We'll share numbers and locations once we've tallied the data! Next week we'll work on closing the site and removing the last of the bones that can be taken out this season.
• The Hanksville-Burpee field crews are certainly at no shortage of good food. We have our favorite spots in Hanksville itself: Blondie's, Stan's, Red Rocks and the local market has plenty of good eats for our grilling adventures in the Henry Mountains. In the past few years we've started to branch out some too. We have favorites in Moab, Utah (Miguel's, the Jail House Cafe, Eddie McStiff's, the Moab Brewing Company) and in Torrey, Utah (the Rim Rock Patio). Our newest favorite in Torrey is the Diablo Cafe - fantastic southwestern cuisine in a beautiful setting. Join us in Utah for great food, good times . . . and dinosaurs too!
• We're gearing up for Week 3 here at the Hanksville-Burpee Dinosaur Quarry! We have lots of new volunteers signed up for this coming week and lots of fossils to work on. We can't wait to see what great things will be found this week!
• We're wrapping up week two of our Jurassic Journey expeditions and things are going well! We had some exciting things happen this week: first (not necessarily most importantly) we got a port-a-potty at the site, we started tours of the site and have had a good number of people visit, Casey Holliday (Assistant Professor at Mizzou's Program of Integrative Anatomy) came by to check out the site, and Scott Foss and John Reay from the Utah BLM stopped in to see how things were going. We're finding new bones and getting plenty plaster jacketed and removed. Hopefully we'll have a bigger update (with pictures!) soon.  
• All of our lab staff are finally in Hanksville for the remainder of the Hanksville field season. We also have education staff and students from Augustana college here to work. The ed staff will be busy giving tours of the quarry and the Augustana students are here with former Burpee employee, Josh Mathews to gain some experience working in the field.
• 05.29.12 - Things are going very well at the Hanksville-Burpee Dinosaur Quarry (HBDQ)! Our first round of volunteers has gotten started and are doing a great job. One of the specimens we've been working on unearthing is a Diplodocus nicknamed Jimmy. Veteran volunteers and Burpee Board Members Herb Page and Joe Mongan have already found new bones that we believe go with the other material we've already recovered for Jimmy. Great job guys, keep up the good work!  
• 05.26.12 - Not much to report from the field today. Hot temperatures and high winds are driving some pretty considerable sandstorms through the Hanksville area. Even when the crew headed up to Green River, UT this morning to take Cory to the train station the winds were already blowing at 30-40mph. With Cory on his way back to Rockford, Scott and Margo took the day off, not only to rest up for the busy week ahead, but to avoid being sandblasted out in the quarry.  Safe travels to all who are headed out to the site for the first week of 'official' digging and to Cory on his trip home!
• 05.25.12 - Scott, Cory, and Margo had a successful day prospecting in the Cedar Mountain formation yesterday. Margo found her first dinosaur bone in the field, congrats Margo! Cory found a caudal vertebra and the crew also found a limb bone. They're headed back to these sites today to look around a bit more.  
• 05.24.12 - The Hanksville-Burpee Dinosaur Quarry is ready for the 2012 field season! Scott and Cory, with the help of Margo Regier (one of our lab staff) opened the rest of the quarry and got the site set up. With the site open, the next logical thing to do is go prospecting and look for more sites! On a completely different note, we'd like to hear from you! The first three people to post a question about Burpee Museum, dinosaurs, our work in the field, or what we're doing in the lab in the comments section of the "A Team Effort" blog post will have a Hanksville-Burpee Dinosaur Quarry bookmark mailed to them. And, of course, we'll answer your questions too!
• 05.22.12 - One of Scott and Cory's goals for the first week in Utah was to meet up with Utah State Paleontologist, Dr. Jim Kirkland. This was more difficult than they imagined, a bit like playing "Where's Waldo?" in the desert. Latest reports are that they were finally able to track him down. At the quarry, Scott and Cory got some extra help from our friend Eric Connor to set up the big shade tent. The tent is up just in time, temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-nineties much of this week. The guys have been working hard, Limb Bone Ridge is nearly ready for business. Our first crew of volunteers arrives on the 28th - so far it looks like everything will be ship-shape and ready to go when they arrive!
• 05.21.12 - Scott and Cory arrived safely in Hanksville, Utah on Friday and have started to set up camp for the 2012 field season. Aside from enjoying Blondie's breakfasts and fighting off more mosquitoes than usual, they have already opened the Middle Quarry at the Hanksville-Bupree Dinosaur Quarry, and will be working on opening Limb Bone Ridge soon.