Re: How to become a paleontologist......

[Farlow@ipfw.edu]

     So you want to become a paleontologist?  Well.  If you are planning 
     now, as a high school student, you need to take as many science 
     courses as you can cram into your schedule while you are in high 
     school.  I would also recommend taking as much math as you possibly 
     can (I never saw the need for math when I was in high school--boy, do 
     I now.  I wish I'd known then what I know now...).  A foreign language 
     (French, German, or Spanish, or maybe Chinese) will be very helpful.  
     Developing good writing skills are a must, and it wouldn't hurt to get 
     some art training (I wish I had.  I envy people like Greg Paul and Dan 
     Varner.  I do well to draw flies.)
     
     Select a college or university that has a good, solid, program in 
     geology or biology--preferably both.  If you major in geology, work as 
     much biology as you can into your schedule, and if biology, do the 
     opposite.  Once again, go for as much science and math as you can get 
     into your schedule, and be sure to take at least one foreign language. 
     Introduce yourself to the paleontologist on the faculty, if there is 
     one, and see if s/he has a research program in which you could work as 
     an undergraduate researcher.  A lot of places (including where I am) 
     do.
     
     Eventually you will have to decide what area/approach to paleontology 
     interests you most, and that will affect where you go for 
     post-graduate work.  You will have to get at least a master's degree, 
     and if you really want to be a professional paleontologist a PhD is a 
     must.
     
     Having typed all of the preceding, let me now put in a plug for where 
     I work:  Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.  Conveniently 
     located between two oceans, our campus offers a solid undergraduate 
     program in geology with a resident paleontologist (that would be me) 
     therein.  I routinely include undergraduate majors in my research 
     projects, which lately include studies of such things as dinosaur 
     footprints and late Tertiary and Pleistocene mammals.  Should any high 
     school students out there want to know more about our program, please 
     contact me privately.   


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: How to become a paleontologist......
Author:  christianwarior7@hotmail.com at Internet
Date:    9/18/98 2:31 PM


Okay guys (and gals):
     
     
     I need to know all that I can about becoming a paleontologist 
(every minute detail) from my sophmore year of highschool on. And before 
any of you think that this is some lazy aproach to get quick answers by 
me, don't. I'll be doing research myself.
     
     
                              Caleb Lewis
     
______________________________________________________ 
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Received: from usc.edu ([128.125.253.136]) by smtplink.ipfw.edu with SMTP
  (IMA Internet Exchange 3.01 Enterprise) id 00171F16; Fri, 18 Sep 98 16:39:41
-0700
Received: from usc.edu (localhost [127.0.0.1])
        by usc.edu (8.8.8/8.8.8/usc) with SMTP
        id OAA09104; Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:32:39 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from hotmail.com (f234.hotmail.com [207.82.251.125])
        by usc.edu (8.8.8/8.8.8/usc) with SMTP
        id OAA09012 for <dinosaur@usc.edu>; Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:32:31 -0700 
(PDT)
Received: (qmail 25201 invoked by uid 0); 18 Sep 1998 21:32:00 -0000
Received: from 166.93.38.141 by www.hotmail.com with HTTP;
        Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:31:59 PDT
Message-Id: <19980918213200.25200.qmail@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:31:59 PDT
Reply-To: christianwarior7@hotmail.com
Sender: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu
Precedence: bulk
From: "Caleb Lewis" <christianwarior7@hotmail.com>
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: How to become a paleontologist......
Content-Type: text/plain
X-Originating-IP: [166.93.38.141]
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN