As we near the deadline of our grant, which you can learn more about here and here, I am excited to say that we have reached over 6,000 records with images! We only have a few short months to reach the anticipated number of 9,000- so Aryanna and I are busier than ever here in the Paleo Collections. I wish I could say the 6,000th record was something glamorous, but unfortunately we have gotten into the territory of unsorted specimens, that have mostly just been bits and pieces of possible fossil insects.
Regardless, I feel it is worth celebrating this moment as we are two thirds of the way there!
SO… drum roll please…
Introducing fossil specimen number 6,000:
VMNH96365 – Nymph
See, I told you it wasn’t glamorous.
Here, I can make it fancier:
fancy nymph – VMNH996365
Better, no? Well, I probably should not be wasting time applying clip art to insect fossils, but hey, we all need a little levity once in a while.
In other news, the Paleo department has been busy with education outreach this past month- we took part in two separate Darwin Day events, one at Roanoke College and the other at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. We also headed down the the Schiele Museum of Natural History for their annual Fossil Fair. Alex’s enthusiasm cannot be matched.
And… we are excited to be going back out on the road for a couple upcoming events. First, on March 26th, we will be heading north of Richmond for a paleo dig at Carmel Church Quarry. This is a 14 million year old site where 17 species of whales and dolphins; 15 to 20 kinds of sharks; seals; sea turtles; 20 to 30 fish, including sunfish, tuna, drum and sturgeon; and crocodile have been unearthed.
Cast of Eobalaenoptera harrisoni, a nearly complete 30-foot whale recovered from Carmel Church Quarry in 1990
And then, in May, Alex and I will drive up to Richmond for this year’s Virginia Academy of Science spring meeting. I went to school at Virginia Commonwealth University, and I am excited to see old friends and professors while there for the meeting.
Updates from the Paleontology Lab 
Congratulations 🙂 All the best for your next 6000!
Maria
Hello! By way of introduction, my name is Joe Parker and I am writing for my son, John Parker. He has Master’s Degree in Environmental Science from Va. Tech and works full time at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County and lives less than 20 miles from the Carmel Church Quarry. He has been going there on field trips since he was about 6 years old!!! John has helped MANY times over the years, when the public was invited and many times when “Butch” needed big time strong help. John even went with Butch to Peru for 3 weeks to work in the desert there so he has a LOT of experience in Paleontology. If you are still in touch with Butch, you can ask him about John!! Anyway, I am hoping this email reaches the right person as we saw that there is an upcoming excavation at the quarry and I am just trying to get John the right contact info so he can contact you and see if you would like a strong back to help out!!! John’s email address is meghunter7@vt.edu Thanks for your time. Sincerely, Joe Parker