Fossil preparator Matt Smith also enjoys working in the field.

Matthew Smith

Paleontologist/Fossil Preparator

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Growing up surrounded by the fossil-rich waterways of North Florida, Matt developed an early interest in the ancient and modern biota of his home state.

In 1992 he decided to pursue a Zoology degree at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Other than a brief foray into the world of entomology with the Agriculture Department, he restricted his movements as much as possible to the halls of the Florida Museum of Natural History and the buildings immediately adjacent.

While lurking about he discovered that the arcane field of fossil preparation was the only sensible avenue of study within the greater world of Paleontology, being that the preparation laboratory was where they kept the coffee maker.

After earning his Bachelors, he headed to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC to build supportive fiberglass and plaster jackets for some of their oversized fossils due to be shipped to their new facility Maryland. In secret he kept close watch on the masterful preparators employed there, and dared to dream that he could one day apply some of their techniques to fossils outside of a crowded, metropolitan setting. He came close to realizing this idle reverie when he traveled to La Paz, Bolivia to assist the staff at el Museo Nacional del Historie Natural in mounting the skeleton of Eurygenium pacenium, a rather unusual Notohippid. While there, he was also lucky enough to go and work for a few short days at the beautiful field locality of Salla, famous for some of the earliest primate fossils in South America.

Returning from Bolivia in May of 1998, and at a loss for what to do next, he applied for seasonal employment at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument as a laboratory technician. One thing led to another, and four years later he was offered a permanent position as a full time preparator. In this way his musings while in Washington came full circle, and he now works and resides in the wilds of the beautiful John Day River Basin.