Oceans of Kansas Paleontology Prep Lab

The Oceans of Kansas Paleontology Prep Lab was renovated in the winter of 2017.  The renovations were possible due to the generous donations from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Mike and Pam Everhart, and various others from our annual spring gala. The museum prep lab has tripled in size and become modernized. 

Here at the Sternberg Museum, the prep lab is both a research space and a public exhibition. Staff, graduate students, and trained volunteers conduct fine specimen preparation in view of the visiting public. Viewing windows allow visitors to talk with experts in the lab, and a monitor outside the lab features images from a microscope camera, providing visitors with an inside view of the process. From the massive bones of mosasaurs to the delicate skeletons of Miocene mammals, a wide variety of scientific specimens are prepared within Prep Lab for study and/or display. 

With the new equipment and training, the Sternberg Museum is now preparing their material under microscope. This allows workers to look for fine details that may have previously been missed such as microfossils and tissue preservation. 

GET INVOLVED

Have you ever wanted to work on a fossil? Attend volunteer trainings to learn the skills needed to do the detailed work of preparing fossils. If you have questions, contact us at  sternbergprep@fhsu.edu