any paleontologist or paleontology students out there? serious answers pls?

Question

what does it take to get into your field I'm interested in paleontology i live So. Cal and what are the best schools out here for me to go to.

Answer 1

hey mate, glad your considering it!

You'll need a degree in geology (with a small amount to a lot of biology, depending on your specific interest), then you'll almost certainly need a PhD or at least a Masters in your area of speciality. It is possible without a Phd/Masters - I know one invertebrate paleontologist who never did one, just volunteered at his local museum for a few years until he became so good they gave him a job. But that's pretty rare.

I have to tell you the standard advice for young players that I recieved - if you want to get in to vertebrate paleontology, it's pretty competitive and the pays not great. Some vertebrate paleontologists have told me that they wish they had followed another career first, and did their paleontology in their spare time. Depends how important money is to you, compared to your passion in what you spend your days doing.

At the other end of the spectrum, some branches of micropaleontology pay quite well, if you're good, due to their importance to the petroleum industry. And there are many branches of invertebrate paleontology in between.

Anyway, I'm not very familiar with the uni's in your country, so I can't really recommend one. But at this stage, I'd look for one that's strong in sedimentary geology, with good micropaleontologists (as they tend to be the best as integrating stratigraphy and fossils), sedimentologists and stratigraphers.

Your eyes will be opened by your geology course - it's like seeing the world in a whole new light! Then you can look for another school for your specific postgraduate studies.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

For an undergraduate degree, almost any school in the country would be a good choice. Even if they don't have a specific paleontology program, coursework in zoology, geology, evolutionary biology and systematics will give you the good basic grounding you need for further study.

Paleontology is such a broad field of study that most workers end up specializing in a specific area, such as paleobotany, dinosaurs, ammonites, trilobites, mammals, Pleistocene megafauna, etc. Finding an advisor or program that specializes in the same area you are interested in can help tremendously when it comes time to do your own research and field work.

Answer 3

I, too, would like to be a paleontologist. And there are a lot of schools out there. Since you're already in California, Berkeley is a great school and does a lot with the La Brea Tar Pits. Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Cincinnati, Washington, Yale, Penn, Florida...you can find a school pretty much anywhere. The catch is, what is your primary interest? Mine is the ceratopsian dinosaurs (thus the sn), so I want to find a school with a professor that has done a lot of research in that area. But I'm not ruling out other possibilities.

Answer 4

a lot of faculties furnish classes on line, yet taking Paleontology on line could be rather like discovering piano by using watching a slide instruct. you are going to be able to desire to have the skill to deal with fossils and different samples, work together realtime with professors and classmates, and (better part of the direction!) take part in field journeys. My maximum memorable studies in college have been the sphere journeys. finding fossils interior the sphere is an adventure that can not be matched by using finding at photos on line.

Answer 5

Try university of Iowa. it's a great school