KUNHM Vertebrate Paleontology Volunteer Program Information

Volunteers are needed for the continued preparation of dinosaur specimens collected from a site in the 140 million year old Morrison formation in northeastern Wyoming. Our current project is the preparation of “Elmo,” a small diplodocid sauropod.

No previous experience is necessary; we teach all of the skills needed to work in the lab. Duties include opening jackets, preparation with air tools, application of hardening agents, and final restoration of the specimens. Volunteers can also screen sediment from the dinosaur quarry in search of small bones and teeth from ancient mammals, fish, crocodiles, and turtles.
The Volunteer Lab is open on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm, with an hour-long lunch at noon in the Kansas Union when school is in session. Volunteers are contacted by email approximately two weeks in advance of lab closure. Anyone who would like to work during the week should contact the volunteer coordinator or preparator to set up an appointment.
Volunteers must be at least 14 years old to volunteer in the lab. Volunteers are required to sign an acknowledgement of risk form prior to working in the lab. A parent or guardian needs to be present for anyone under 18.
We provide all of the necessary safety equipment, including safety glasses, lab coats, aprons, dust masks, and latex or nitrile gloves.

Please contact us prior to visiting. You may reach the volunteer coordinator or the preparator Monday through Saturday by calling the lab phone at 785-864-3865 or by emailing us at dinosaur@ku.edu

Christine Frese screenwashing for microfossils	Christine Frese using Air Abrasion Machine to clean dinosaur bones	John Eppich removing matrix from a dinosaur bone with a pneumatic air tool
Lynn Swafford filling in cracks in Camarasaurus vertebrae with Paleobond epoxy putty	John Eppich, Bryan Becker, Christine Frese, and Lynn Swafford posing in front of Annebelle	Bryan Becker with a bone fragment he accidentally glued to his finger
Bryan Becker preparing a "live" restoration of Compsognathus for paint application	Judith Wake showing off a Triceratops jaw that she brought in for identification	Allan Hemmy and Becky Totten pouring a silicon mold

Volunteer as a Dinosaur Preparator

at the

University of Kansas Natural History Museum