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Watson Fellowship--a plea for help



My name is Neil, I'm a geology and biology undergraduate at Oberlin College in Ohio. As this is my senior year I have had to (gasp) start to think about what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. But before I worry about that I'd like to do something interesting, engaging and fun.

So, I'm preparing to apply for a watson fellowship (www.watsonfellowship.org) that will provide me the means to travel around the world and study just about anything I want. My proposal is to conduct a large-scale survey of the international commercial fossil trade. I hope to travel to Morocco, China and Argentina to meet with and observe, professional and amateur collectors as well as retailers and brokers working at various levels of distribution. I may also travel to hubs of the European commercial trade and observe auctions, talk to professionals and museum officals there etc. Hopefully I will also visit smaller scale retailers (owners of small shops for instance) and also internet retailers.


Issues of inquiry will include: collecting techniques, revenue dispersal, transportation, what happens to a purchased fossil etc.


Clearly there are some serious organizational, legal, fiscal and contact hurdles I have to overcome to make this a worthwhile project. Therefore, I would very gladly welcome advice, consultation, contact info etc. from anyone inclined to give it. Feel free to contact me personally
neil.kelley@oberlin.edu
440 774-3081


thanks!

Neil