For the first time in my life, I was able to attend
Paleofest on the weekend of March 14. Paleofest is an annual celebration and
gathering of paleontology fans and experts at the Burpee
Museum in Rockford, Illinois.
Paleontologists gather from all over the world to give talks, while children
engage in interactive, educational play with museum docents and visiting
scientists. I had been aware of this event for three years and especially
wanted to go to last year’s event on the Cenozoic. This year it was all about
the Triassic, a period of reptile diversity and evolution, and the emergence of
the first mammals and dinosaurs as the ecosystems of the world revived from the
Permian extinction.
The talks took place downstairs, in the main classroom of
the museum below all the other exhibits. There was a substantial crowd, and I
wasn’t the only representative from the Field Museum’s
volunteers to attend. Only visitors wearing the event badges were allowed in,
and I paid $85 for the full weekend. The
talks were attended by people of all ages, and both genders were
well-represented. It was genuinely inspiring to see how diverse the appeal of
paleontology is.
