But Art Wasn’t So Easily Convinced
I really wasnt very interested at first, he recalls, because I had plenty to do, and dinosaurs had no particular attraction to me. Nonetheless, his friend persuaded him to come check out the site, a ranch in Wyoming.
The ranch owner took me out onto his property, and he drove his pickup up onto a butte, stopped, and told us to get out, Art recounts. But when Art went to exit the truck, he found he couldnt stand on the ground. It was covered with dinosaur bones.
So although he wasnt originally compelled by the taphonomy to study dinosaurs, Art couldnt help himself. I know were not making any more of those data, and every year these bones are being washed away and lost to science, he mused. So I committed myself to spending some of my time trying to preserve these remains and save them for posterity. This meant that I would have to do science at its best.
Take Our Fossil Class
We are excited to offer a Fossil Preparator Training Course. This course will meet for an entire day of sessions and will provide training in the basics of paleontology, excavation, preparation, preservation, and curation. The course is just $70 for the entirety of the sessions and will be held on the campus of Southwestern Adventist University!
Dinosaur Science Museum & Research Center
Would you like to see and touch real dinosaur bones? Want to watch as fossils are cleaned and prepared? We offer museum tours, paleontology classes, and family-friendly events.
When you visit the Dinosaur Science Museum, you have the unique opportunity to interact with one of America’s largest dinosaur fossil collections. It’s here, on the campus of Southwestern Adventist University, that over 30,000 dinosaur bones are cleaned, cataloged, and preserved.
Tours are available by appointment! Please submit your tour request at least 48 hours before your requested tour date to ensure our team has time to respond!
We are excited to offer a Fossil Preparator Training Course. This course will meet for an entire day of sessions and will provide training in the basics of paleontology, excavation, preparation, preservation, and curation. The course is just $70 for the entirety of the sessions and will be held on the campus of Southwestern Adventist University!
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Dinosaur Research Draws Acclaim Inspires New Tv Series
Big things are happening with Southwestern Adventist Universitys Dinosaur Excavation and Taphonomic Research Project. With its Dinosaur Science Museum housing a world-class collection of more than 25,000 bones and its ever-increasing media exposure, the project is drawing unprecedented attention.
For those who cant visit the projects dig site in Wyoming, United States, Hope Channel is preparing a six-episode documentary on the project for release in fall 2019, giving viewers a glimpse of what hundreds of students, researchers, and hobbyists experience in the wilds of Wyoming every June.
For one month every year, the ongoing dinosaur excavation project, led by professors Art Chadwick and Jared Wood, moves from Southwestern Adventist Universitys biology department to the 8,000-acre Hanson Ranch and Research Center in eastern Wyoming.
This years dig drew 120 participants ranging in age from newborn to 85 years old. Guests included 10 international educators from the countries of the Philippines, Argentina, Peru, Italy, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, and Korea. Approximately 2,300 bones were unearthed by a new record average of 50 diggers per day, according to Wood.
On Fathers Day, 150 local residents accepted an open invitation to visit the site. Wood said the words overwhelmed and awed were common responses from visitors, adding that people also tended to show surprise at the scope of Southwestern Adventist Universitys fossil collection.
Joining the Dig
Expected Expansion
Evidence For Intelligent Design
In this lecture Chadwick probes the issues that arise when you take the designer out of origins. How can evolutionists explain the intricacies of modern molecular biology using only random processes and chance? The earliest fossils already had all the complexity at the cellular level that is present in any modern cell. Where did this design originate?
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Southwestern Celebrates Milestone At Dinosaur Research Project Dig
Drake Smith marks his find at the 21st SWAU summer dinosaur dig with GPS coordinates. Photo provided by Southwestern Adventist University
Southwestern Adventist Universitys annual dig for dinosaur bones in northeastern Wyoming commenced on June 1 and will run through the month. Art Chadwick, Southwestern research professor, with the support of other professors from Southwestern, Loma Linda University, and Southern Adventist University, has led the project since he started it in 1996. During this, the 21st dig season, a new milestone was achieved. The 20,000th officially documented bone of the Dinosaur Research Project was found and uncovered!
The discoverer was none other than Drake Smith, an 11-year-old boy from Burleson, Texas, on the dig with his family. Smiths father, Jared Wood, is a herpetologist and professor at Southwestern Adventist University. The bone Smith found was a chevron , likely from an Edmontosaurus.
I was just so excited to find a bone that was a cool find, and it was the first one I dug up myself, says Smith. Then, I heard it was the 20,000th bone and I was super excited. I was really glad my dad was there and I got to help him with the dinosaurs.
This young man found and uncovered the bone all by himself. Its a wonderful thing to see the next generation enthusiastic about preserving this part of Earths history, says Chadwick. In all the years Ive been out here, I still get a thrill from these discoveries.
Frequently Asked Questions :
- Where is Southwestern Adventist University Dinosaur Science Museum And Research Center?
Southwestern Adventist University Dinosaur Science Museum And Research Center is located at: 113 W Magnolia St, Keene, TX 76059, USA.
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We can surely help you find the best one according to your needs. Compare and book now!
- What is the phone number of Southwestern Adventist University Dinosaur Science Museum And Research Center?
You can try to find more information on their website: www.swau.edu/dinosaurmuseum
- Where are the coordinates of the Southwestern Adventist University Dinosaur Science Museum And Research Center?
Latitude: 32.3976077
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Dinosaur & Fossil Class Experience
We are excited to offer a new Fossil Preparator Training Course. This 6-8 hour course is offered on Sundays starting at 9 am and will provide training in the basics of paleontology, fossil excavation, preparation, preservation, and curation.
These sessions will be taught by our experienced staff members and will cover the following topics:
- Learn the basic principles of paleontology and about the history of our museum and research project.
- Learn how to properly excavate and jacket fossils.
- Learn how to clean and stabilize fossils.
- Learn how to make fossil replicas.
- And learn the basics of our museum management system.
This is a rare opportunity to learn the science and process of dinosaur excavation and preparation! Whether you are a child interested in paleontology, a high schooler taking biology, a college student looking to build your resume, or a retiree seeking a new hobby, this course is for you!
This course is just $70 and will be held on the campus of Southwestern Adventist University. A certificate of completion will be awarded upon successfully passing a final exam. Class sizes are limited to 8 people. The course breakdown is as follows:
- 9:00 am 10:30 am: Introduction, an overview of the basics of paleontology, and a museum tour
- 10:30 am 1:00 pm: Excavation and jacketing
- 1:00 pm 2:00 pm: Lunch break
- 2:00 pm 4:00 pm: Fossil preparation and replication
- 4:00 pm 5:00 pm: Course exam must pass to receive a certificate of completion
Dinosaur Science Museum And Research Center Keene
- When is Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Center open?
- Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Center is open:
- Sun – Sun 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
- Mon – Fri 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
- What hotels are near Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Center?
- Hotels near Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Center:
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Watch Our Lecture Series
Watch our past lectures virtually! In each lecture, we discuss a new and exciting topic. Don’t miss these exclusive presentations!
What are the museum’s hours of operation?Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 4:00p.m.Saturday by appointments
How much does a tour cost?The price of admission is $5 per attendee. We do offer discounts for veterans, seniors, health care workers, and children under 12 years of age for $3 per attendee. If youd like to experience our VIP Backstage Tour with Dr. Jared Wood, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the Dinosaur Museum, the price of admission is $100 for groups up to 10 attendees and $200 for groups up to 25 attendees.
Where can I park?Free parking is available at the Chan Shun Centennial Library parking lot on the corner of Magnolia and College Drive.
Where is the museum located?We are located at 113 West Magnolia Street Keene, Texas 76059
What is the best way to contact the museum?Please fill out the form above to get in touch. You can also call 817-202-6336 or email . The form above provides the quickest response!
How can I help the museum?Volunteers are an essential part of our museum. Our volunteers clean and prepare fossils, give tours, and assist with special events. Please fill out the form above to learn more about current volunteer opportunities at the museum.
A New Field Station The Dig Dinosaur Research Project At Swau Expanding
- File photo
2021 will mark Southwestern Adventist Universitys Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Centers 25th annual summer dig in Wyoming.
Over the past quarter century, this special project has excavated and cataloged over 30,000 dinosaur bones and brought together thousands of students and researchers at the Hanson Family Ranch in Wyoming.
The project is the subject of Hope Channels six-part documentary titled The Dig.
As the research project has gained world-wide recognition over the years, the number of summer participants has outgrown the capacity of the onsite research station.
The field station was originally built to accommodate 20 participants. However, the project has seen exponential growth, with as many as 200 on-site guests during peak weekends.
In 2018, recognizing increased interest in the project and planning for additional growth, the museums leaders and the Hanson family began making plans to build a new field station.
The new facility will be three times the size of the existing facility in order to accommodate up to 120 people per day. Costing approximately $500,000, the new space is designed to increase the quality and reach of the project.
Unfortunately, a storm destroyed the aging field station this fall, expediting the need for this building project to commence ahead of the 2021 summer dig.
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A Hidden Gem In Keene
The drive from Dallas to Keene is bucolic in a quintessential Texas kind of way scenery of grassy fields broken up by farmhouses.
Keene is a small town, home to Southwestern Adventist University. The campus is still calm when I arrive, meandering my way to the building thats brought me here something that feels almost like a bit of a secret.
It is only once I round the corner of the building that the hidden gem reveals itself, and I suddenly find myself peering over the edge of a railing, where, sitting in a sunken courtyard below me is a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex.
This humble building is the SWAU Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Center, and its home to more than 20,000 dinosaur bones. Its an impressive number when you consider the ratio of bones to students roughly 25:1, with just under 800 undergraduates enrolled at the university.
Support The Dinosaur Science Museum
“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.”
What is the SWAU Dinosaur Dig?
For 25 years, Southwestern Adventist University has been conducting a dinosaur excavation research project in the Lance Formation of eastern Wyoming.
We are quarrying in an extremely rich bone bed, finding the remains of a large number of upper Cretaceous dinosaurs. This project provides an exciting opportunity to learn advanced quarrying techniques and experience the joy of discovery for everyone that participates.
Why is the Southwestern Adventist University Hanson Ranch Field Station important?
This project will continue to support the progress we have made over the past two and a half decades in pioneering the use of GPS technology to map bone beds, getting schools and churches involved in the study of paleontology and origins, and the development of strong and credible relationships with our scientific colleagues.
How will my gift advance this project?
Benefits of sponsoring/donating?
Donors will be encouraged to join us on the dig, and a list of donors will be displayed at the entrance to the new field station. We will also be naming rooms after the largest donors if they permit recognition.
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Dinosaur Museum To Open At Southwestern Adventist University
The museum, which opens November 11, is intended to improve the preservation and study of bones in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The new facility will showcase over 20-years worth of faculty and student excavations of upper Cretaceous dinosaur bones from the Hanson Research Center in eastern Wyoming.
The excavations were led by the universitys Dr. Art Chadwick, a research professor of Biology and Geology at the school.
The bone collection at Southwestern has previously been featured in presentations at the Geological Society of America, as well as on film by the likes of National Geographic.
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Have You Read Adventist Tomorrow: Fresh Ideas While Waiting For Jesus
ADVENTIST TOMORROWFresh Ideas While Waiting for Jesus, by Jack Hoehn
ADVENTIST TOMORROW is a best-selling book for Adventist Today, with over 1,000 copies sold so far. A Sabbath-school at LLU has discussed selected chapters. It is being read by Adventist College and University students. It is read in Canada, in Australia, in South Africa, in Kenya and in Spain, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Even Clifford Goldstein told Jack he liked the chapter on Intoxicants and got a new idea from the chapter Not a Rib, but not much else.
You too dont have to agree with Jack to read the book. The ideas discussed are important and are very much topics of current interest. What is the Adventist view on abortions as needed health care or murder? Should Adventists votethen who or what for? Should Adventists vote to protect the US 2nd amendment or return to our historic position of not-bearing arms. Can we accept science and still believe in God? Is Genesis 1 an inspired summary of Creation or a detailed news report?
Readers are positive: Its a good read. I have enjoyed it immensely. A very valuable piece of work. Once I started it, I could not put it down. Very well written. An unprecedented and transformative rescue of Adventist thought. A genuine pleasure and a relief. An author should make you think and maybe think a little differently than you did before. Jackhas accomplished this in spades! Added very richly to my heart, soul and mind.
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The Dig Dinosaur Research Project In Need Of A New Field Station
A model of Southwestern Adventist University’s new field station at the Hanson Family Ranch archeological dig site in Wyoming.
The year 2021 marks Southwestern Adventist Universitys Dinosaur Science Museum and Research Centers 25th annual summer dig in Wyoming. Through the past quarter century, this special project has excavated and cataloged more than 30,000 dinosaur bones and brought together thousands of students and researchers at the Hanson Family Ranch in Wyoming. The project is the subject of Hope Channels six-part documentary titled The Dig.
As the research project has gained world-wide recognition over the years, the number of summer participants has outgrown the capacity of the onsite research station. The field station was originally built to accommodate 20 participants, however, the project has seen exponential growth with as many as 200 onsite guests during peak weekends.
In 2018, recognizing increased interest in the project and planning for additional growth, the museums leaders and the Hanson family began making plans to build a new field station. The new facility will be three times the size of the existing facility in order to accommodate up to 120 people per day. Costing approximately $500,000, the new space is designed to increase the quality and reach of the project.
Tim Kosaka is director of Marketing & Public Relations for Southwestern Adventist University.
Southwestern Adventist University Professors Publish Cutting
Every summer, Jared Wood, director of the Dinosaur Science Museum at Southwestern Adventist University, and Arthur Chadwick, director of the Dinosaur Excavation Project at SWAU, along with Keith Snyder, chair of biology at Southern Adventist University, lead a dinosaur dig at Hanson Ranch in Wyoming. This is an ongoing collaborative research project, and they have gathered a large amount of data over the years. This research has led to the publication of a paper titled, Over 13,000 elements from a single bonebed help elucidate disarticulation and transport of an Edmontosaurus thanatocoenosis for PLOS One, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science.
This paper represents approximately 20 years of research by the Dinosaur Science Museum and Dinosaur Research Project. The Dinosaur Research Project refers to the dinosaur excavation and research which takes place every summer in Wyoming. Students and members of the community are both able to attend and take part in this project. SWAU became involved in this project in 1997 and began offering a dinosaur class two years later in 1999. Chadwick was the first SWAU professor to work on this research project, and Wood has carried it on as the director since 2018.
The Dinosaur Science Museum features bones that have been found during those summer digs, and a catalog featuring every bone can be found here.
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