Inside the Fossil Prep Lab at the U-M Museum of Natural History (UMMNH), Chief Vertebrate Preparator Bill Sanders eagerly engages a group of young visitors peering curiously through the windows from the museum lobby.Though separated by a large pane of glass, Sanders is able to communicate with them via headset and a two-way intercom system while he works.
“The way the lab is set up is very purposeful to encourage interaction with the public,” Sanders explains. “We’ve tried to arrange our workstations around the windows so that people can see what we’re doing, so they can see us at work, and they feel more of a connection with us.”
The Museum of Paleontology’s Vertebrate Fossil Preparation Lab is one of three fossil labs at the University of Michigan.
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