By Mona Trick

Dinosaur Provincial Park needs people to work as interpreters full time during this upcoming summer (May to September, 2025). The title of the position is Palaeontology Interpretation Specialist.

Quoting from their application portal:

Reporting to the Visitor Engagement Supervisor, the Palaeontologic Interpretation Specialist supports a team of seasonal interpreters and collaborates with the Visitor Services team in the development, planning and delivery of programs for the public, including guided paleontological excavations for the public.

Experience with paleontological field work, leading 1-8 km guided 1/2 day-hikes, and working in remote outdoor and extreme heat locations is ideal. Background and education with paleontology, badland/desert/river ecosystems and public speaking/presentations are strong assets. Passion for nature, teaching people of all ages, and working in a dynamic environment are important for an enjoyable summer.

Interpreters, including the Paleontology Interpretation Specialist, lead visitors on a variety of programs about the natural, geologic, and human history of the park. They lead 24-passanger bus tours, guide 1-4 hour hikes through the badlands, and deliver both public and school group programming. Some positions will be encouraged to help deliver amphitheater programs for outdoor evening shows.

Primary Duties:

• Development, delivery, and evaluation of high quality interpretive, outreach and/or educational public programming
• Including organization, delivery, and leadership of a guided paleontological excavation program
• Train/ mentor seasonal interpreters in paleontology and support ongoing professional development.
• Assist supervisory and land and resource management teams in facilitating landscape and fossil resource protection.
• Conduct research on various subjects and provide expertise in paleontology

To be successful, you should also have experience with:

• Working in remote outdoor and extreme heat settings
• Program development and program planning.

The requirements include university graduation in a related field such as palaeontology, biology, geology and natural resource management. They will consider experience in lieu of education (one year experience is equivalent to one year of education).

You can apply on the application portal.

The closing date for this open competition is January 6, 2025.

By Mona Trick

Following the late Mike Clark’s wishes, his family, friends and Mount Royal University are raising funds to create an endowment for the Mike Clark Memorial Scholarship. Once the $30,000 endowment is raised, then this fund will join the larger Mount Royal University Endowment fund and recapitalize annually to exist and disburse in perpetuity. Before his death, Mike requested a scholarship award in his name for a deserving Mount Royal University geology student who excels in field geology. So far over $13,000. of the required $30,000. has been raised.

Any size of donation makes a difference. To donate, go to the Mount Royal University Foundation website.

You can donate using a credit card. Your donation will be quickly acknowledged via e-mail and a link to download your Canadian tax receipt will be e-mailed to you shortly afterward.

Mount Royal University is matching individual donations (one per donor up to a maximum of $500.) until December 3, 2024 by selecting “Yes! Please count this toward Giving Day 2024” on the donation page.

Mike Clark was the APS contact at Mount Royal University for many years until he retired. He faithfully reserved the rooms and equipment and provided the computer log in information we required for general meetings, microfossil sorting sessions and the symposium talks and workshops. For the annual APS symposium, he was there at 8 am to set up the tables, chairs and poster stands. He stayed for the whole day of the symposium, to make sure everything went well. Then he worked with us to put everything away. Mike Clark was essential to APS activities.

Contributing to this memorial scholarship is one way we can say “Thank you” to Mike Clark for his valuable assistance over the years.

by Mona Trick

Aid the research of Dr. Jessica Theodor and Dr. Alex Dutchak of the University of Calgary by searching the matrix (soil) from the Cypress Hills Formation (Middle Eocene) of Saskatchewan to find tiny fossils. We will be using microscopes in room B140 at Mount Royal University because construction has closed the room we used previously. Join us from 1:00 until 3:30 pm. on the following Sundays:

• December 1, 2024

We are very grateful to Mount Royal University for allowing us to use their microscopes and lab.

Registration is not required, but if you let Mona Trick (cell: (587) 578-4579 or giftshop@albertapaleo.org) know that you are planning to attend, then she can inform you if we need to cancel this session. No experience is required. Due to the delicate nature of this work, only those 12 years and older are allowed to search for the microfossils. Bring tweezers or a small paint brush to pick the tiny fossils from the soil and a pen to label your finds. All of the fossils found will be used to aid their research.

Stay tuned to the December Bulletin for the dates of the microfossil sorting sessions in January and February, 2025, when we will be once again searching using microscopes for tiny fossils.

For more information, see the events page.