We have been very fortunate to have Rose Nyaboke visiting with us from Kenya.  Rose is responsible for the vertebrate fossil collections at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) in Nairobi, and is here on a Hix Preparator’s Grant from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, with additional support for housing from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology (UMMP). She has been learning about conservation, organization, and databasing of collections, and about the various preparation, molding and casting processes that are involved in the study and display of fossils, as well as about the methods and materials that are safest for the long-term preservation of fossil specimens. 

 

Rose has interacted with a large number of staff and students in the Museums of Paleontology and Zoology, and Department of Anthropology during her stay, including the Collections Coordinators of vertebrate fossils and herpetology, Adam Rountrey and Greg Schneider, the Scientific Illustrator of the Museum of Paleontology, Carol Abraczinskas, and the Chief Preparator of the Vertebrate Fossil Preparation Lab (UMMP), Bill Sanders. The lessons of her visit should have a substantial impact on improving policies and methods for more effective and efficient care of fossils at the NMK.