Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / September 2004

You seem to be under a few misapprehensions. First, that vertebrate
paleontology is a good way to "rake in the dough". Forget about that. It
doesn't pay any better than any other academic job, i.e. if you're
interested in money, try some other line of work. Second, you seem to
think that vertebrate paleo is limited to the arid west. That's true of
most good dinosaur deposits, but certainly not of vertebrate paleo as a
whole. Some of the best early tetrapods are found in Pennsylvania, for
example. Third, you seem to think that you can specialize in
paleontology as an undergraduate. Very unlikely. You need a degree in
biology and/or geology (double major would be nice), which you can get
just about anywhere. Then you can try graduate school, and the good news
about that is that if you're accepted, they pay you. If you want extra
thrills as an undergrad, look for a university with a good vertebrate
paleontologist, and you might get to help out in preparation or even
collecting. But that's extra. Anyway, there are plenty of such people in
the northeast. I would suggest this strategy: look at the web sites of
any schools you are otherwise interested in, and see if their faculty
includes any vertebrate paleontologists. Mostly they will be in geology
departments. Also, there are many universities in the neighborhoods of
major museums (like the Smithsonian and American Museum), and the
vertebrate paleontologists at these museums are usually adjunct faculty
there. Even if they aren't, you are free to volunteer at those museums.

Tain't the absolute worst place in the country fossilwise, but it's
far from the best.  If you're in the general area of
Nashua/Salem/Lowell/Lawrence, you are in a belt of mid Paleozoic
sedimentary rocks that have been rather severely altered.  It's
possible that you can find some fossils that others have overlooked,
but it's not too likely -- especially since you probably don't have
much idea what you are looking for. Some Devonian marine fossils were
reported many decades ago in gravel pits in Boxford, MA.  There used
to be some small outcrops of red silstone on Rt 1 in Rowley that had
some well preserved Devonian ostracods.  There are some interesting
early Paleozoic sites in the Boston Basin, but access would be a
problem.  There is a thick sequence of mid-late paleozoic sediments in
the Naragansett Basin with plant fossils and a few insects

If you are further West, say around Keene/Northfield, there is a belt
of Silurian/Devonian rocks that lies parallel to and generally just
East of the Conneticut River that has some marine fossils.  And from
about Greenfield, MA south, there are extensive exposures of Red
Triassic-Jurassic sandstones with dinosaur footprints, wood scraps,
etc.

Possibly a good start would be your local library.  Often the best
information on your local geology and paleontology (if any) will be
found in publications from the USGS or your state geology service that
will be stashed in a "Pamphlet" file.  You might try contacting the
Geology departments at some of the region's many colleges and
universities.  Maybe they will have some thoughts.