Field Work

In the summer of 2000, Burpee personnel began conducting field work in the latest Cretaceous (65-67 million years ago), Hell Creek Formation of Carter County, Montana. This was the time that Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, duck-billed dinosaurs, raptors, and armored ankylosaurs roamed North America. During the late Cretaceous, Montana had a much warmer and wetter climate than it does today. Crocodiles, turtles, freshwater skates and dinosaurs of all kinds lived and died in a coastal floodplain. A vast inland sea, which once bisected North America, was slowly receding. Burpee Museum field crews have made many important discoveries including “Jane” a world famous juvenile T.rex, and “Homer” a sub-adult Triceratops, as well as an outstanding collection of microvertebrate fossils, and many other specimens.

In 2007 Burpee Museum staff began a collecting program in the lower Permian rocks near Lawton, Oklahoma. In this area, Permian (275 million year old) fissure and cave deposits contain abundant and well preserved remains of early terrestrial reptiles and amphibians. In a very short time, Burpee Museum personnel have collected thousands of bones of these intriguing little animals, many of which are currently the subject of scientific research. 

In 2008 Burpee personnel began a collecting program in the Jurassic Period aged (150-147million years ago), Morrison formation.  A new site was discovered which garnered national attention. The Hanksville-Burpee bone bed is a huge dinosaur “graveyard” which is almost ¼ of mile long and 300 feet wide. It represents an ancient river system which had many sandbars in it. As animals would die and wash onto the sandbars, they would eventually be buried. In the course of 6 weeks, Burpee field crews discovered skeletons from half a dozen different dinosaurs, including the giant long necked sauropods like Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Barosaurus. Other dinosaurs including the meat eating Allosaurus plated Stegosaurus were also found. The Hanksville-Burpee bonebed is expected to give scientists a better understanding of the late Jurassic Period, which was a period dominated by giant dinosaurs and a much warmer climate than today.

Collections and Research Staff

Michael D. Henderson
Curator of Earth Sciences
Michael is the museum paleontologist and obtained his B.S. in Geology from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 1986. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at Northern Illinois University.  Michael’s areas of interest include Paleozoic mollusks, Mazon Creek fossils, and late Cretaceous tyannosaurids.  Michael has had a lifelong love of paleontology and been a member of the Burpee Museum family since 1989. 

Scott A. Williams
Collections and Exhibits Manager
Scott began volunteering at Burpee Museum in 1988 at the age of 13.  After working for several years as a police officer in Ogle County, Scott helped Michael initiate the field programs in Montana.  In 2003 Scott retired from Law Enforcement to begin working at Burpee.  He completed his A.S. degree at Rock Valley College and is currently pursuing his B. S. degree in the department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at NIU.  Scott has extensive field work experience in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, Morrison formation of Utah, Permian of Oklahoma, and local Ordovician rocks. 

Fossil Prep Lab Staff

Mindy Householder
Mindy is a student – Anthropology, Northern Illinois University. Mindy’s focus of study includes primitive primates and lemurs.

Joshua Matthews
Josh is a Master’s student – Geography, Northern Illinois University. His focus of research is the taphonomy of the Burpee Triceratops bone bed site.

Joseph Peterson
Joe is a Ph.D. candidate at Northern Illinois University. He has field experience with Dr. Bob Bakker and Burpee Museum. Joe was part of the team that found, excavated, and prepared Jane, Burpee’s juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex.

Katie Tremaine
Katie is a student - Geosciences, Northern Illinois University. Katie has been working at Burpee since the fall of 2003. Her areas of study include micro-vertebrate research. She has a strong interest in hadrosaurs.

Jim Slezak
Jim has been a volunteer preparator for several years. Jim was part of the Jane and Homer prep team.