2013 Dig Program Dates.

$1,695.00 per week. (see sign up page for details) 

Dig availability as of  2/5/13

Week 1  July 12th to July 17th.  75% Full 

Week 2  July 26th to July 31st.  70% Full 

SPECIAL NOTE: The Billings/Logan International Airport will be experiencing new construction during the months of July and August 2013. The airport will be closed to all flights at 6:00 pm on Fridays and reopening 6:00 pm on Sundays during the construction period. Due to this construction the 2013 dig programs will run Friday through Wednesday.

Thanks.

JRDI staff

  

Email or call for dig space availability at jrdi@bresnan.net or 1-406-696-5842.

Since 1993, JRDI has been dedicated to the preservation and education of Montana's rich dinosaur history through our field programs.  Our six-day long dig programs are tailored with this mission in mind.   If you are serious about any aspect of natural history and love the outdoors, you'll find this a rich learning experience.  Our programs appeal to a wide audience: students, professionals and people from all walks of life from around the globe.

Each specimen we excavate has scientific value, so our digs are not for the casual vacationer.  Even if you've  never had any class room or field experience, you can still participate.  We just ask you come willing to learn and receive instruction. Everyone helps both in the quarry and in the camp! 

Sometimes our work is hot, dry and dusty, but it's always rewarding.  Perhaps that's why so many volunteers return.  We hope you'll join us in 2013.  We look forward to seeing our old friends and making new ones.  Please note:  the minimum age of participants is 12 (sorry, no exceptions).

Youth Mentoring

 We receive annual inquiries from parents looking for a dig program offering their son or daughter a real field experience beyond the tourist day trip. Our liability insurance mandates the minimum age as 12. Unfortunately there are no exceptions no matter how mature the child.

If your son/daughter meets the age requirement and has always expressed an interest in pursuing a career in paleontology (or earth science), then our week long field programs are a great starting point for many an aspiring scientist. JRDI has hosted programs for the last 20 years with a real life experience that will teach them the sequence of steps in field paleontology from discovery to excavation, but also the responsibilities of being a paleontologist. We teach what is not taught through media or in a classroom.

We've had many students attend our programs over the past 20 years. Many have continued their goal of making paleontology their field of study and some have headed in another scientific direction. Either way, we help mentor because no matter what field of science, it is a methodology involving observation, asking questions, deductive thinking, experimenting, and drawing a conclusions. Our goal of education is to shape that type of critical thinking and not necessarily what the media's perception of what a paleontologist does.

Many of our students who we mentor through high school years enter college with a great advantage. Most of them have returned to our field programs as summer interns and research associates.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call 1-406-696-5842.
 

2012 Field Report 8/22/12 

Summer 2012 was a huge success! The staff and I were talking about how fortunate we were this year to have the nicest folks attend. It was that spirit of cooperation that allowed us to pack so much work into two weeks. We are so grateful, because digging these huge creatures could never be done without a team effort. So, thank you all for that.

For the past five years, we have focused on our stegosaur bonebed. Due to the new sauropod lying directly on top of the stegosaur horizon, we had to focus our attention to getting it out of the ground. However, we did recover two large dorsal stegosaur plates. One plate is very large and oval in shape which we believe to belong to the species Hesperosaurus. That plate alone measures three feet wide at the base and is the best plate we’ve recovered to date!

The sauropod specimen started to show it’s worth this season. The skeleton is associated with some of the bones articulated. The sauropod is actually lying on its back with its limbs sprawled to the sides. The complete dorsal series is articulated with the ribs lying across. This dinosaur, I believe, is the same as the Ralph specimen we collected in 2005-2006 not even 200 yards away from our current excavation. The animal is a camarasaurid of some kind but many of the features on the vertebrae and ribs prove it not to be Camarasaurus lentus and likely something new. These sauropods should have 22-24 ribs and some are approaching 6 feet in length. We have uncovered 14 to date!

The sauropod pelvis seems complete with the left femur associated with the pelvis. This femur’s overall length is 4.5 feet. The team also uncovered 11 caudal (tail) vertebrae with seven chevrons. Near the end of the second week, one team member uncovered the first two articulated cervical (neck) vertebrae going into the hill. Looking at the overall material uncovered this summer, I believe the animal is relatively complete. Each time we began to pedestal a bone, something new was uncovered so there will be plenty to excavate in 2013. This is one massive animal that likely will be about 60 feet long!

This was the most fun I’ve had excavating a dinosaur in years. To see the absolute size and the relationship of the bones to one another, it’s truly a sight to see! I want to thank the 2012 team for their eagerness and full cooperation. Special thanks to Dave and Rosalie and family for allowing us on their land and their continued support. None of us would have gotten anything done this season without Merrill and Rodney for the bobcat work. Rodney was amazing running that machine. I want to thank staff (Elena, Anna and Eliza) for running camp so efficiently. To my intern, Evan, you were a trooper with everything we asked of him. We are looking forward to your reading your senior thesis with your discoveries and observations on these stegosaurs. Also, thank you Dean and Amber for the strat work and assessing the big picture of the northern Morrison formation. Even though Matt wasn’t able to join us onsite this summer, I want to thank him for all his hard work keeping the equipment and my damn diesel running! Thanks again one and all!
 

 

Upcoming 2013 Excavation.....

Here is what we have to look forward to in 2013. Simply put—A LOT OF BONES. We still have three legs to find, more of the torso, tail, and neck and if the paleo gods are smiling on us—another skull! Remember everyone; we only have two weeks next season, so please don’t put it off if you plan to attend. Hope you can join us in July of 2013!

All the best.

Nate Murphy

Judith River Dinosaur Institute

 

 

 

Rolling a jacket

Put your back into it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 Dig Photo Gallery

 

 

 

 

2011 Dig Photo Gallery