Micropaleontology
Micropaleontology is one of the many branches of paleontology. Paleontology is the study of fossils and what fossils tell us about the geologic past. Micropaleontology studies only microscopic fossils — plant and animal fossil remains too small to be identified without the help of a microscope.
Micropaleontologist
My name is Gay and I am a micropaleontologist. I became interested in fossils during my undergraduate studies in biology. I received a grant to study fossils found near the levee of the Mississippi River. I identified these as the "bones" of a black bear from the Pleistocene epoch and published my first scientific paper based on this study. What a thrill to study the remains of an animal that lived over a million years ago!
After earning a bachelor of science degree in biology with emphasis in paleontology, chemistry and math, I was hired by a major oil company and trained by the company to identify microscopic fossils from oil and gas well samples. During the same time I continued graduate studies in geology.
The identification of microfossils from one-cell animals is the basis for relative age-dating of sediments and hydrocarbon accumulations in many oil and gas producing regions. For more detailed studies, other microscopic animal and plant remains are used. These microscopic fossils range in age from a few thousand years to several million years old — when dinosaurs were alive, and even before then.
At the MMS, I examine well samples, using a binocular microscope, to determine the relative ages and paleo-ecology of sediments and petroleum on Federal lands. I also interpret detailed paleontological reports. All of these scientific data are entered into MMS computer database.
Educational Requirements
High School — A college preparatory curriculum with emphasis in biology, earth sciences, chemistry, computer science, and math.
College — Basically a science and math curriculum including botany, zoology, geology/earth science, evolution, ecology, math and chemistry. Very few universities offer degree programs in paleontology. Most universities that offer course work in paleontology do so either through the earth sciences/geology or biology departments.
Career Opportunities
Museum preparators, petroleum industry micropaleontologists, and micropaleontologists seeking employment with Federal and state governments may need only a master's degree, but a doctorate degree is necessary for most academic positions.
[Meteorologist] [Coastal Ecology] [Geophysicist] [Geologist] [Environmental Scientist]
[Marine Biologist] [Micropaleontologist] [Physical Oceanographer] [Petroleum Engineer] [Underwater Archaeologist]
Last update: Thursday November 29 2007
