The field season is finally in progress after lots of rain, but is now extremely hot.  Seems like we've gone from drenching rain to 100+ temperatures without any nice weather in-between.  So far I've had 7 field crews out searching for dinosaurs:

1.  Brachylophosaurus (duck-bill) leg from the Judith River Formation near Malta, Montana, excavated for the purpose of looking for soft tissues and biomolecules, for a study to be conducted by Mary Schweitzer.

2.  Two duck-bill skeletons from the Judith River Formation (Redding Field Station), near Rudyard, Montana, being excavated as part of an ongoing project conducted by doctoral student Liz Freedman, to determine the dinosaur fauna of the lower Judith River Formation.

3.  Exploration and collection of dinosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation near Harlowton, Montana conducted by Bill and Kris Parsons, Museum of the Rockies, Museum Associates.

4.  Several Triceratops specimens from the Hell Creek Formation at our Snap Creek Camp near Jordan, Montana as part of the Hell Creek Project to determine the biotic composition of the Hell Creek Ecosystem.

5.  Tyrannosaurus rex specimens from the Hell Creek Formation at our Sheep Mountain Camp near Ekalaka, Montana as part of the Hell Creek Project to determine the biotic composition of the Hell Creek Ecosystem, and acquire a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for the Smithsonian.

6.  Exploration and limited collection of fossils from the Bearpaw Formation near Jordan, Montana for the purpose of completing the Bearpaw exhibit in the Siebel Dinosaur Complex at the Museum of the Rockies, a project led by Dr. Patrick Drukenmiller.

7.  Exploration and collection of baby Maiasaura specimens from the Two Medicine Formation at Egg Mountain, near Choteau, Montana.

Before the summer is over there will be two additional crews out, one in the Hell Creek Formation near Glendive, Montana also searching for specimens to help determine the biotic composition of the Hell Creek Ecosystem, and another crew who will begin initial excavation of a sauropod site near Livingston, Montana.  This quarry operation will be part of a much larger excavation on the Ameya Preserve that is expected to continue for several years.  The field crew chief for this site will be Kristi Curry Rogers from the Minnesota Science Center.