{"id":15,"date":"2020-02-25T20:54:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T20:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:13:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:13:42","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Dino Lab at the University of Alberta! Here you will find information on our personnel, our volunteering and education\/outreach programs, and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is pal\u00e6ontology?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Pal\u00e6ontology is the scientific discipline that deals with the fossil remains of once-living organisms. To be considered a fossil, a specimen must be extensively altered by geological processes, which often takes at least one hundred thousand years. The general public typically considers pal\u00e6ontology to be the study of dinosaurs, but this is somewhat limiting in that dinosaurs are only one of the many groups of extinct organisms that have lived during the 4.5 billion year history of life on Earth. In general, pal\u00e6ontology is divided into three main areas: vertebrate pal\u00e6ontology, invertebrate pal\u00e6ontology, and pal\u00e6obotany.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vertebrate pal\u00e6ontology is the study of all animals that have vertebrae (i.e., a backbone) including fish, lizards, snakes, birds, amphibians, dinosaurs, mammals, marine reptiles (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, etc.), and flying reptiles (pterosaurs). These types of fossils comprise the specimens in Dino Lab and University of Alberta Laboratory for Vertebrate Pal\u00e6ontology (UALVP)<\/strong><\/a> collections.<\/span><\/p>\n

Invertebrate pal\u00e6ontology is the study of animals that do not have vertebrae, including trilobites, snails, clams and oysters, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. At the University of Alberta, this area falls within the purview of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences rather than Biological Sciences, and further information can be accessed here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pal\u00e6obotany is the study of fossil plants. Related to pal\u00e6obotany are palynology (the study of spores and pollen) and other organic matter. Further information about pal\u00e6obotany at the University of Alberta can be accessed here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UofAPS\/videos\/672723052862584<\/p>\n

Here is a time lapse video captured in 2015 during the first day of excavating our new Styracosaurus<\/em> skull. Found by Amanda Kelley, the skull was airlifted out of the badlands by helicopter and brought to the U of A for preparation! Preparation was done by Howard Gibbins & Clive Coy, and completed in 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

This specimen has been in the lab where nobody can see it since 2018, but coming in April 2026 it will be going on display in CCIS.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Our specimens<\/h2>\n

Once specimens have been collected in the field, they are brought to the university for preparation in the Dino Lab. This involves removing as much of the extraneous material (called \u201cmatrix\u201d) adhering to the fossil as possible, which consists mostly of rock. During the preparation process, the specimen must be continuously stabilized with appropriate glues, and any breaks must be repaired.<\/span><\/p>\n

A significant amount of the preparation is done by volunteers. The Dino Lab is quite proud of, and grateful for, the fact that we have the largest volunteer corps on campus. Without them, we would be unable to prepare even a fraction of the material we get through in a typical year. Once the specimens have been prepared, they are catalogued into the university\u2019s extensive collections, and are then available for research, exhibit, and loans to other institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

We operate two fossil preparation labs. Please see the Schedule & Supervisors<\/strong><\/a> page for further information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Volunteering<\/h2>\n

We have an extensive volunteer program. Please see the Volunteers<\/a><\/strong> page for further information.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/td>\nVolunteers<\/td>\nHours<\/td>\n<\/td>\nYear<\/td>\nVolunteers<\/td>\nHours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2012<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n1709<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n2020<\/td>\n62<\/td>\n1448<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2013<\/td>\n85<\/td>\n2103<\/td>\n2021<\/td>\n58<\/td>\n1001<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2014<\/td>\n82<\/td>\n3111<\/td>\n2022<\/td>\n241<\/td>\n3949<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2015<\/td>\n69<\/td>\n3805<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\n220<\/td>\n4632<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2016<\/td>\n124<\/td>\n5091<\/td>\n2024<\/td>\n345<\/td>\n5147<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2017<\/td>\n162<\/td>\n5207<\/td>\n2025<\/td>\n251<\/td>\n5942<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2018<\/td>\n157<\/td>\n5576<\/td>\n2026<\/td>\n<\/td>\n?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019<\/td>\n185<\/td>\n5403<\/td>\n2027<\/td>\n?<\/td>\n?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Page last updated on 2026-03-19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Dino Lab at the University of Alberta! Here you will find information on our personnel, our volunteering and education\/outreach programs, and much more. What is pal\u00e6ontology? Pal\u00e6ontology is the scientific discipline that deals with the fossil remains of once-living organisms. To be considered a fossil, a specimen must be extensively altered by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":552,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":87,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":691,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions\/691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/dino-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}