Paleo Warrior
Getting to know Andres Buitron,
a veteran Project Exploration student extraordinaire
and a 2005 Dinosaur Lab Intern.
by Jessica Havens
Andres
with a fossil he has been preparing
at the University of Chicago Dinosaur
Lab.
Photo: J. Havens © Project Exploration |
Jessica Havens
(JH): Can you tell us a little
bit about yourself and how you got
interested in paleontology?
Andres Buitron (AB): My name is Andres Buitron and I will
be a second year student at the University
of Montana this fall. I have been
associated with Project Exploration
since my freshman year at Perspectives
Charter School, which is when my interest
in fossil preparation began. As my
involvement with P.E. developed, my
interest in paleontology and fossil
preparation grew as well. Now that
I am back from my first year of college
I have been working in the prep lab
to further increase my skills in fossil
preparation.
JH: What do you
love most about working with fossils?
AB: Knowing that
these fossils belonged to beings that
lived long ago keeps me interested.
Since I can’t learn about dinosaurs
first-hand, I have to look at the
fossil I hold and study it to paint
a picture in my head. |
I see these dinosaurs walking, and interacting
with each other in a world we can never
go back to. I see them playing, eating,
and dying. I see their environment in its
beauty; I wish I could see myself walking
amongst them.
Photo: J. Havens
© Project Exploration
JH: What have you learned
from people at the lab?
AB: I have learned more
about fossil preparation techniques than
about the actual dinosaurs. The people at
the lab have taught me how to use new tools,
such as an air scribe and new bonding agents
to repair fossils. I have seen others using
these advanced tools but I would only be
able to use basic dental picks and pin vices.
In my time here at the lab I have seen what
these fossil technicians go through everyday,
I have seen what I will one day go through
everyday. Being a fossil technician is definitely
the profession I will be in.
Photo: J. Havens
© Project Exploration
JH: Where do you see yourself
in five years? What do you see yourself
doing?
AB: I still see myself
in Montana; it is the perfect place to be
to study geology and paleontology at a lower
level. I would love to go out of the country
to study these things but I’m in no
rush. I hopefully will be entering graduate
school and I will be planning expeditions
to Mexico for my paleontological studies.
I chose Mexico because I love the country
and all you hear about is its archeology.
I want to find the monsters that roamed
it.
Andres in the
field as a Junior Paleontologist.
Photo: G. Lyon © Project Exploration
- Click
here to read more about Andres'
in our "Where Are They Now?"
series of interviews by kids for
kids.
- Learn
more about the Project Exploration Junior Paleontologist program
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