Station teaches visitors about paleontology

Walter L. Sprague
NLJ Arts & Culture Reporter
 
Almost 100 visitors took the trip 40 miles south and west of Newcastle to the Lance Formation visiting the Hanson Research Station Sunday, for the station’s annual Father’s Day Open House. Here they participated in a unique dinosaur dig in several respects. The center provided cookies, a vegetable tray, and lemonade to anyone who wanted refreshments.
The first thing most visitors experienced was a half-hour presentation by Art Chadwick, Ph.D., founder and co-director of the project, showing the history and unique technology used for scientific research. Part of this technology included 3D photo renderings of many of the fossils uncovered in the area. Chadwick also showed the map of where they found these bones. It was a creation utilizing advanced GPS techniques. HRS pioneers these techniques, and it is one of the functions that differentiate this group of researchers from others. With the system, they can give to each fossil the location, the position in which the artifact lays, as well as the depth in the ground. The map only covers a small area, so far, since the excavation of the site is far from complete, but it shows in great detail where each fossil is in relation to the others and is very detailed. Chadwick explained that it is like looking at the bone bed without all the dirt and clay. 
Chadwick also shared the objectives of the project, which is sponsored by the Earth History Research Center and the Southwestern Adventist University, which also hosts a museum in Keene, Texas, where they clean preserve and display many of these fossils. The goals of HRS are: “To preserve scientific data that were being lost due to erosion; To set a high standard for research in paleontology showing that those who believe in the scriptural account of origins can do excellent science; To learn more about the dinosaurs and how they might fit into our understanding of the history of the planet while communicating our beliefs about earth history to our own students and teachers; To gain friends in the paleontology community with whom we can share our story.” 
They are having great success with these goals, according to Chadwick. He gives frequent lectures incorporating the Christian creation view with paleontology, and the GPS mapping and geological evidence has been vital in supporting these views, he explained. While this view will often bring criticism from evolutionists, it is gaining acceptance and respect with a growing community of scientists. Find some of the research and conclusions at fossil.swau.edu/ and fossil.swau.edu/. 
After the lecture, the visitors were able to go out into the field to various quarries where they interacted with scientists, students, and even some children that were actively excavating from the bone bed. The staff was friendly and open to the public, and explained to the visitors what animals the bones came from, if known, as well as describing the techniques used to excavate and preserve the bones as well as they could in the field. Much preserving takes place before they ship the fossils away. 
Making a GPS positioning and cataloging many elements of the bones was of utmost importance, and much of that was also going on in the field during the visit. The HRS is an ongoing project surrounding the month of June each year, and SWAU has 22 years left on the lease at the Hanson Ranch, so the research will continue for many years to come. 
The Open House, where the public can attend free of charge and get a first-hand look at an active paleontology dig, takes place annually, every Father’s Day. If interested in donating to the project to keep it going and further the research into Biblical Historic Paleontology, contact Carolyn Johnson at (307) 746-3475.