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The work of Ray Chapman Andrews has inspired many paleontologists, including Mike Novacek, who co-led the Gobi expeditions with me. As a kid Mike’s parents took him to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History to study fossils up close.
Mike the kid
When Mike was about six, he became interested in fossils after he read a book by Roy Chapman Andrews called All About Dinosaurs. Mike loved reading about fossil hunting in the Gobi Desert, and he drew all the dinosaur illustrations over and over again.
plastering fossils
The things that really struck Mike were the pictures and descriptions of paleontologists excavating bones and wrapping them up in plaster. He found the whole idea of putting bones in plaster casts and pulling them out of the earth to be so cool.
Mike the paleontologist
The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History has one of the most magnificent mammoth skeletons in the world. There were actually many more fossils from mammals than from dinosaurs in that museum.
"My interest in ancient mammals started when I was six years old!"
Image Credits:
Mike the kid, courtesy of Mike Novacek; Mike the paleontologist, courtesy Discovery Channel Online; plastering fossil, courtesy of AMNH