The annual family-friendly program, Dinosaurs and MOR!, celebrating the science of paleontology, will be held at the Museum of the Rockies from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 15.
The event will feature opportunities for kids to earn junior paleontologist certification, view the museum's dinosaur exhibits and watch fossil preparation demonstrations. For additional fees, visitors can take paleo art lessons with author and illustrator Ted Rechlin or the museum education team and hear presentations by world-class paleontologists.
In addition to the special activities, visitors can explore one of the world's largest collections of North American dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex and a growth series of the horned triceratops, showing the species from juvenile to adult through a series of fossilized skulls, as well as a nearly complete allosaurus and numerous dinosaur eggs. The museum also has exhibits on the natural history of the American West, as well as displays of the region's American Indian cultures and pioneer history.
The family fun day activities are free with museum admission and include paleo-passport activities throughout the Siebel Dinosaur Complex, including interacting with fossil preparators in the newly reopened Bowman Dinosaur Viewing Lab, and admission to “The Dinosaur Prophesy” show in the Taylor Planetarium. Young visitors are eligible to earn a junior paleontologist certification for these activities.
In addition, those interested in attending a lecture series featuring 10 experts from across the country can purchase a pass, which ranges in price from $30 to $45 and includes museum admission. Registration for the lecture series isn’t required but is encouraged. Presenters include:
- Laura Wilson, Montana State University alum and professor of geosciences, geology graduate coordinator, chief curator of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas.
- John Scannella, MSU alum and the John R. Horner Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies and MSU.
- Kristi Curry Rogers, MSU alum and DeWitt Wallace professor of biology and geology at Macalester College in Minnesota.
- Denver Fowler, MSU alum and curator of Badlands Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson, North Dakota.
- Dana Rashid, assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at MSU.
- Brandon Peecook, assistant professor and assistant curator of biology at Idaho State University.
- Rebecca Hunt–Foster, curator and park paleontologist at Dinosaur National Monument.
- Lindsay Zanno, associate research professor of biology at North Carolina State University and division head, North Carolina State Museum of Natural History.
- Thomas Carr, associate professor of biology at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
- Kathryn Krasinski, assistant professor of anthropology at Adelphi University in New York.
There will be opportunities to bid on paleontology-themed collectibles during the presentations, from fossil casts to signed books, posters and more. Paleo-art classes are $20-$40 per person and registration is required.
General museum admission is included with membership or ranges from $12 to $18 per person. Register for the all-access lecture series and paleo-art classes at museumoftherockies.org/signature-events/dinos.
