By Lorraine Upton | Guest Writer
The Dino Dig study abroad program, led by Dr. Brooke Haiar, is a grant-funded program to Greybull, Wyoming, that provides University of Lynchburg students the opportunity to experience life as a paleontologist while simultaneously receiving class credit. Students spend three weeks in June learning about paleontology and working to find fossils that are millions of years old.
Paden Garrard ‘26, an environmental science major who participated in the program in 2023, noted that the experience was one of their favorite memories as a Lynchburg student.
“It was one of the best experiences,” said Garrard. “It was my first study abroad and it was cool to do something completely unknown to me and learn about it.”
Here is a list of bones and fossils that students unearthed in the previous two Dino Dig study abroad sessions:
- Femur and Tibia
- Vertebrae
- Scale Imprints
- Trilobites
- Marine Fossils
- Bone Fragments
In addition to searching for fossils in the summer, students are also required to complete a research project in the fall semester.
“For my project, I was looking at different techniques to figure out what’s the best product to clean off the bone so it could go back to the Virginia Museum of Natural History located in Martinsville as a finished product,” said Caelinn Satterfield ‘24.
The Dino Dig experience takes a liberal arts approach that teaches students how to analyze data, think critically, and come up with solutions, among other skills. Rin Doering ‘25, an environmental science and sustainability major, spoke highly about the transferable skills they took from the experience.
“Something that is important to understand about paleontology is that we have documents of diversity that existed long before us,” said Doering, who was a participant last summer. “The process we use to determine the data to solve a problem is very applicable in modern research that may be more relevant in today’s problems.”
Cy Therrien ‘26, an environmental science major, expressed similar sentiments about her participation in the trip last summer.
“The trip provided a lot of hands-on experience in the field. The class that’s a part of it in fall did a lot of career wise skill building. Overall, I think it was helpful for the long term,” Therrien said.
Click the link for more information about the University of Lynchburg’s study abroad trips.
