Six collections care jobs opening at the Smithsonian

Copied from the preplist:

The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum is now hiring six (6!) full-time, 4-year term positions in the Office of the Associate Director of Collections and Research (ADRC). Basically, they are in the Collections Management realm, to provide assistance with museum collections management tasks including collections care and conservation, specimen/object curation, pest management, storage improvement, data capture, digitization, and maintenance of datasets containing information. They are not specific to any particular discipline, so there's an opportunity to work in any department of the Museum.

More information on the Duties and application instructions can be found here:
https://my.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/314422100
The hiring level is at GS-5, with promotion potential to a GS-7.
The closing date is April 30th.

Good luck!
Steve

Steve Jabo
VP Prep Lab
Department of Paleobiology
Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
Natural History, MRC-121
Washington, DC  20013-7012

Seattle FPCS Schedule is here- plus new FPCS website

The schedule of this year's Fossil Preparation and Collections Symposium can be downloaded from the new FPCS website (work in progress) hosted at FossilPrep.org. There are a bunch of great talks, workshops, field trips, and more slated for this meeting, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone next week!

Don't forget to bring something to the Burke for the live auction Friday night! Last year's auction raised over $2500 in seed money for 2012. Thanks again to Arvid Aase for doing such an amazing job... anyone think we can we top it this year?

Looks like the UW host committee [Jessica Cima, Bruce Crowley, and Christian Sidor] have done a fantastic job putting this show together.

Smithsonian Fossil Preparator Job

Copied from the Preplist:

The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum is very happy to advertise for a full-time, permanent position in our Vertebrate Paleontology Prep Lab, in the Department of Paleobiology.
As the Summary says, "The employee provides assistance in research through preparation of fossil vertebrate specimens; aids in collecting, repairing and conserving collections of fossil vertebrates; and performs basic curatorial functions such as rearranging and documenting the collections."
The Duties are:
   Assists in the preparation and replication of fossil vertebrate specimens for study, exhibition, and incorporation into the National Collections.
   Assists in the field work for collection of vertebrate fossils as directed in the company of NMNH staff.
   Maintains and improves the fossil vertebrate collections as directed.
   Interacts with a diversity of individuals and groups including visitors, volunteers, amateur paleontologists, students and colleagues from this and other institutions.

Please sharpen your favorite crayon, sharpen your CV, and get your application in as soon as possible! And please spread the word to as many people as possible (so no apologies for cross-posting :-). This is a great opportunity for everyone involved.

The important dates:

Opening Date: April 5, 2012

*CLOSING DATE: APRIL 19, 2012*

And here's where to find the nuts and bolts of applying. (The two links are for the same job)

Announcement #:                           12R-MR-297386-DEU-NMNH (public/non-status)
Position Title:                                    Museum Technician (Geology)
Open and Close Dates:                  April 5, 2012 – April 19, 2012
Vacancy Location:                            Washington, DC
Last Updated:                                    April 5, 2012
Pay Plan/Series/Grades:               GS-1016-07 ($42,209.00 to $54,875.00 / Per Year)

http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/313578300

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5th Annual FPCS update

The Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle will be hosting the 5th Annual Fossil Preparation and Collections Symposium on April 12–14, 2012. The symposium will include platform presentations, posters, roundtable discussions, workshops, and local field trips.

The abstract book can now be downloaded here.

North Carolina Preparation job

 The entirety of the listing is reposted from the Preplist:


Dear Colleagues,

Please see the following position announcement and pass along to any
interested parties.

The newly constructed Nature Research Center at the North Carolina Museum
of Natural Sciences is seeking an exceptional individual to provide
technical and managerial assistance to the Director of the Paleontology and
Geology Research Laboratory. The successful candidate will play a key role
in creating a dynamic, team-centered environment and participate in
cutting-edge outreach programs using leading digital technology to connect
with students, teachers, and community members.

Primary duties for this position involve preparation of fossil specimens,
co-organizing and participating in domestic and international field
expeditions, molding and casting fossil specimens, supervising, recruiting,
and training field and laboratory volunteers and student interns, assisting
with the laboratories annual preparation and field certification course for
volunteers and students, and collaborating with other museum scientists to
design and implement groundbreaking educational outreach programs focused
on paleontological research.

Candidates must demonstrate mastery of fossil preparation and field
techniques. Experience in micropreparation, acid preparation, molding and
casting, and histological sample preparation required. Preference will be
given to candidates with experience implementing public outreach and
volunteer programs, and/or who are proficient in digital technology.

The working title for this position is "Assistant Lab Manager"; however,
you will find the position listed with the HR department as Curatorial
Technician. The position is housed in the Biology Department at North
Carolina State University, therefore the successful candidate will be an
employee of NC State University; however, the location of the work will be
at the Nature Research Center of the North Carolina Museum of Natural
Sciences.

The museum seeks to hire immediately; therefore, candidate review will
begin the 22nd of March. However, the position will remain open until
filled.

The position can be viewed at:  http://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/5660.

Please email me directly with questions.

Lindsay E. Zanno, Ph.D.

Director, Paleontology & Geology Research Laboratory
Nature Research Center
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
121 W Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27603
Phone: (919) 707-8289
Email: lindsay.zanno@ncdenr.gov

Research Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
North Carolina State University
Campus Box 7617, Raleigh NC 27695

E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North
Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

WPA Fossil Preparation 1939-1941

The last time our nation was being crushed by a crippling global economic depression, we did our darndest to paleontology our way out of trouble. That's right. The state of Texas was crawling with armies of fossil prospectors, preparators, mount makers, and researchers, all collecting, quite literally, tons of fossils. Sadly, WWII came along too soon, and therefore we don't have the historical precedent to show that employing paleontologists is the solution to our national woes. Even though it clearly is.

Anyway, the program was administered by the Works Progress Administration and directed by Dr. E.H. Sellards of the Bureau of Economic Geology. You can read more about the amazing work these folks did here, and here, and about continuing research on this material here. The specimens were brought to Austin for preparation and curation, and have mostly ended up in our collections. A number of these are on display at the TMM, some are exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History, and some at the Smithsonian. I've been working through VPL archives for documents and specimens to exhibit to showcase the history of some of this work, and in doing so have come across a large number of great photographs of the preparation process. I can't help but hear Tom Waits singing Alice when I look at these pictures.

[Note: Bloggers photo editing capabilities still suck, so these aren't organized coherently or even artistically, or even actually centered reliably. What is this, 2004?]

Original caption: Scene in Preparator's Laboratory

Preparator reconstructing Glyptodon carapace

Preparation of the Onion Creek Mosasaur. This skeleton is still on display at the Texas Memorial Museum.

Another view of the preparation lab. The mosasaur skull is visible on the left.

The lab was in part of the University called "Little Campus". Great lighting.

Onion Creek Mosasaur skull.

Rhinoceros skull undergoing preparation.

Onion Creek Mosasaur lower jaws. I find this picture somewhat haunting.

Professor Emeritus Ernest Lundelius recalls visiting this lab as an undergraduate in the early 40s.

Preparators working on Texas mastodon bones.

Historic fossil goo... er, glue recipes

From The American Journal of Pharmacy, May 1875 p. 225