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Fwd: Robert DePalma and the raptor egg nest

Forwarded from Vrtpaleo.

-Mary

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jacobson, Russel" <jacobson@isgs.uiuc.edu>
To: <VRTPALEO@usc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:01 AM
Subject: Robert DePalma and the raptor egg nest

Hi:

I was asked by my friend Robert Depalma to pass this info along to
members of the list. Basically you need to know that the person who
was
selling the egg nest through the auction house is his father who has
the
same name, not his Son who is a student in geology/paleontology. I
will
post his own words below. This explains the confusion in the press as
the son is the one who works as in a Florida museum and does
professional paleontology work as well as currently being a student
in 
geology and paleontology. Here are his own words:


Hi Russ,

It was great talking with you yesterday, I'm glad things are going
well
for you. Getting back to the news lately, I was blown away when I
read
that article. I had been getting questions from people and each time
I
had to explain to them that my father is who they were hearing about.
When he had decided to take on fossil collecting as a hobby I
mentioned
that there would potentially be some confusion about us, given that
we
have the same name. And, since my father is an endodontist by
profession, and I am involved with the academic side of paleontology,
naturally people would find it easy to confuse the two of us later on
down the road and associate me with anything dinosaur-related. I am
firmly and wholeheartedly rooted in academia, as I always have been,
and
do not foresee ever participating in the commercial aspect of
paleontology. It is important for people to make the distinction
between
my father and I, and our separate views of paleontology. He knows my
thoughts and opinions about paleontology but he made up his own mind
and 
he chose what he wanted to lean toward.

Since the age of three I was fascinated by bones, and by age five I
had
decided to devote my life to science and paleontology. I hold onto
that
idea stronger now than ever before. In the past, as I was growing up,
I
was encouraged and inspired by people like Dr. Bakker, Dr. Ken
Carpenter, and others, who devoted time and energy to someone who
they
thought showed potential and promise. I personally do not think that
anything could push me off track, and I look forward to making
numerous
contributions to this field during my lifetime. That said, it is
still 
important to know which DePalma is which: the endodontist and the
paleontologist.

Thanks Russ,

Robert


Anyway I hope that this clears up confusion as to the issue of who
the
Robert DePalma is who is involved with the egg nest and who is not. I
wanted to make sure that others in the VP profession do not get the
wrong impression about my friend Robert and his commitment to the
science of paleontology and that he is not the one involved in the
sale
of the nest. It sure makes sense to me reading the press on this.
Robert
does not have one of the eggs either, so I not sure what that was
about
in the press. He in fact has let his father know in past that he is
not 
in his agreement with him on the purchase and sale of vertebrate
fossils.

Feel free to pass this information around to other lists that may
have 
posted this. I want to make sure that my friend's reputation as a
professional is not tarnished by the confusion with his dads name.

Russ Jacobson 

Russell J. Jacobson
Geologist 217-244-2426
Coal Section Fax 217-333-2830
Specialties: Stratigraphy, Coal Geology
Coal Resources, Geoscience Outreach
and Vertebrate Paleontology
615 E Peabody Drive
Illinois Geological Survey
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: jacobson@isgs.uiuc.edu
Keeper of DINO RUSS's LAIR:
http://www.dinoruss.com <http://www.dinoruss.com/> or
http://www.dinoruss.org <http://www.dinoruss.org/>
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