Question: Dear Kate, sorry I didn't talk to you much in our chat session, but I hope to ask you many questions now. Would you say that paleontology is a good career choice in Australia? What advice would you have for any aspiring paleontologists? Would you say that paleontologists require a lack of claustrophobia? Thank you for your coming responses. Riley.
Keywords: advice, aspiring, career, choice, claustrophobia, fulfilment, motivation, paleontologists, paleontology
I’ll leave this for Kate, but do what you like rbaile, that’s all that matters. If you enjoy what you do, look forward to waking up and going to work in the morning, its the greatest feeling.
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Hi Riley,
Sorry it is late, but I am in Perth and the time difference is a bit of a problem. A good career choice is doing something you love. There are many different options to work with palaeontology. I have worked as a palaeontologist in an oil exploration company, dating rocks and looking at thermal maturity to see if there is oil and gas present. There are lots of job in that field. More recently I have worked in geochemistry and looked at isotopes and biomarkers in fossils to determine climate change and extinction events. I am also working on evolution and bone formation as a researcher in a University. I guess my point is that there are many areas that palaeontologist can work with fossils which are not the traditional museum roles. I’m claustrophobic and I do fine – well I find elevators a bit of a challenge. All of my field work is in wide open spaces which I love. I hope you find something you love doing as much as I love my job
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