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It’s #WorldMentalHealthDay! My mental health journey started early. My parents went through a really rough divorce when I was in middle school, and that’s when I first saw a therapist, though not regularly. In high school and college I strived for perfection, telling myself if I just achieved more that no one would know my terrible secret, that I was a “bad person.” Soon my physical and mental health was in shambles. I dealt with horrible GI issues that sent me to the ER countless times, and none of my doctors could point to a physical cause. I started seeing a therapist weekly when I turned 20. While that was a great start, it wasn’t enough. I kept pushing myself to be the pinnacle of success in paleontology. I published early and won competitive grants. I got in to a great graduate school, fully funded, and attempted to take my own life that first semester. I then realized if I didn’t prioritize my mental and physical health that I would die. And I really didn’t want that. I was formally diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder. I started taking mood stabilizers and anti-depressants, and even anti-psychotics for a brief time. I became dedicated to individual and group therapy. My health has improved so much and I am happy more often than not these days. I still struggle with bad days, self-doubt and self-harm. I’m proud of my learned skills and proud to say I’m in remission from Borderline PD. I’m happy to report my GI issues went away by dealing with my mental health. I’m proud be be healthy and strong enough now to share my story and help those around me. I am excited to make mental heath a more prominent fixture on this account, and I hope you all know what wonderful, talented, amazing people you all are, worthy of love and acceptance no matter what. #mentalhealthawareness#mentalhealthmatters#therapyiscool#selfcare#selfcareisntselfish#endthestigma#stoppillshaming
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Happy first day of December! Errrr…. I mean… Happy first day of… October!?! ❄️🤔 It’s pretty wild to think that it’s already snowing here in Montana and that in less than a week I’ll be in sunny, warm Australia!! I am so excited to travel to Brisbane, Australia, for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual conference. I also cannot wait to explore my surroundings, i.e. be on the beach, go to the zoo, CUDDLE ALL THE KOALAS!!! 🐨❤️ Before I can get too carried away with koalas, I have a couple presentations to give at the meeting. I am extremely proud to be the discussion leader for “Maintaining Mental Health in Paleontology” at the Diversity in Paleontology Luncheon on Wed. Oct. 9th. Later that day, I will be giving a talk about my bone-crushing dog research with updated phylogenetic analyses plus new U-Pb detrital zircon age constrains for the site! On Thursday afternoon I will be presenting for my coworker Scott Williams, who cannot make it to the meeting, on “Moving Mammoths and MOR: How to Survive Your Collections Move.” It’s gonna be a busy meeting that I am sure will fly by! I’m looking forward to seeing colleagues, friends, and meeting some IG friends in person for the first time. So let me know! Are you attending the conference? What can’t I miss in Brisbane? 📍Museum of the Rockies is on the ancestral homelands of the Apsaalooké, Salish Kootenai, and Cheyenne people. 📸: @thegreaterthomson #paleontology#2019SVP#paleontologist#scicomm#MontanaMoment#trex#dinosaur#instamuseum#tyrannosaurusrex#cretaceous#museumlife#prehistoric#montana#Bozeman#naturalhistorymuseum#museumlover#palaeontology#HowDoYouMuseum#geologyrocks
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I’m headed out for some fieldwork today to a site that I can’t share on social media. So here’s a shot from this past July when I was digging up a T. rex femur in the Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana. 🦴🦖⚒ Fieldwork is always better when you’re reppin’ a great cause! My shirt is from @MaryAnningRocks, an amazing campaign dedicated to building a statue of my hero, 1800s paleontologist Mary Anning, in her hometown of Lyme Regis, England. Head over to @maryanningrocks and give them a follow to learn more! Please pledge your support to their cause, and order a cool t-shirt, too!! 📍This field site is on the ancestral homelands of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Apsaalooké, Cheyenne and Očeti Šakówiŋ people. 📸: @thegreaterthomson #MaryAnning#MaryAnningRocks#paleontology#dreamjob#paleontologist#fieldwork#scicomm#womeninstem#tyrannosaurusrex#fossils#dinosaur#trex#hellcreek#cretaceous#prehistoric#montana#naturalhistory#earthhistory#geology#palaeontology#geologyrocks
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*GULP!* And that’s how we lost Amy to Dilophosaurus!! 🦖😂 This is a dinosaur I fell in love with when I worked as a park ranger in Utah, it’s great to see a replica of my old friend here @museum_of_the_rockies. This awesome dinosaur was relatively large, bipedal (walked on two legs), had a double crest on it head, and was carnivorous. It lived during the early Jurassic time period, approx. 193 million years ago. The first fossils of Dilophosaurus were discovered on Navajo lands in northern Arizona by tribe member Jesse Williams while exploring the local Kayenta Formation. Now, I bet most of you have heard of Dilophosaurus, after all, it is a Hollywood star in the original Jurassic Park movie. 🎥 Of course, the “Dilophosaurus” seen in the movie is VERY different from the actual dinosaur. For starters, Dilophosaurus is a LARGE dinosaur, it was depicted much too small in the movie. Secondly, there is zero evidence that this dinosaur had frills and could spit poison. Now, soft tissue rarely preserves, so I could be wrong, but I’m pretty doubtful. When I was a ranger at Arches, my evening program was all about breaking down the dinosaur myths of Jurassic Park, and Dilophosaurus was my favorite one to discuss! #FossilFriday#dilophosaurus#paleontologist#paleontology#dinosaur#museumlife#fossils#prehistoric#Jurassic#fossiladdict#HowDoYouMuseum#naturalhistorymuseum#dinoselfie#scicomm#palaeontology#Jurassicpark#jurassicworld#thisiswhatascientistlookslike#naturalscience#geologyrocks
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Allosaurus & Stegosaurus & tyrannosaurs, oh my! I was diggin’ the displays at the @dickinsonmuseumcenter during the Cretaceous and Beyond conference this past weekend. I got to present my research on the Cretaceous opossum-like mammal Didelphodon! Here are some photos from the weekend: 1. Dinosaurs on display @dickinsonmuseumcenter 2. #dinoselfie! 🦖 3. Allosaurus 4. Fossil rhino skeleton 🦏 5. Hell pig! Aka entelodont skull 6. Bison skeleton 7. Rudy and I, two mammal paleontologists, scorning the dinosaurs 👀 8. Cary Woodruff hugging his study subject Pachycelphalosaurus 9. My presentation on Sunday! 10. Petrified stump on the Dickinson State University campus. 🌲 #paleontology#dinosaurs#paleontologists#scicomm#allosaurus#fossils#dinosaur#jurassic#stegosaurus#jurassicpark#cretaceous#museumlife#howdoyoumuseum#theropod#prehistoric#northdakota#naturalhistorymuseum#palaeontology#geologyrocks
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As promised, more dinosaurs tracks from Texas! 🦖👣❤️ This impressive trackway contains about a dozen footprints from a large three-toed dinosaur! While we don’t know exactly who made these tracks, it is thought that they were stomped out by the meat-eating dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus. 🦖 These tracks are in the Cretaceous limestone that formed about 115 million years ago when this part of Texas was a shallow marine to shoreline environment. 🌊 You can see dinosaur footprints like this all over Texas, these ones are along the San Gabriel River outside of Austin. Enjoy the video and silly photos, including my best and not-at-all accurate dinosaur impressions. IF YOU VISIT THIS SITE, DO NOT DAMAGE OR ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE TRACKS! That is illegal. The tracks are for everyone to enjoy. 📍This trackway is on the ancestral homelands of the Tonkawa and Comanche people. 📸: @thegreaterthomson #Acrocanthosaurus#dinosaur#dinosaurtracks#paleontology#paleontologist#dinosaurs#prehistoric#igTexas#atx#fossiladdict#geotourism#tracefossil#dinosaurfootprints#geology#cretaceous#theropod#trackway#footprint#naturalhistory#geologyrocks
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Hey you. Just in case no one told you today, you are amazing and you are doing a great job. Your worth is not based on your productivity. Your value is not determined by what you look like. You deserve kindness, respect and love. Regardless of your achievements. You are not a lost cause. It is okay to not be okay. It’s okay to be angry. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to put your mental and physical health first. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you are worthy and you are beautiful. I hope you have an amazing weekend. 🦖❤️ 📸: @thegreaterthomson #FossilFriday#mentalhealthawareness#selflove#tyrannosaurusrex#trex#dinosaurs#paleontologist#mentalhealthmatters#mentalwellness#selfcare#selfcareisntselfish#paleontology#thisiswhatascientistlookslike#museumlife#naturalhistorymuseum#prehistoric#montana#endthestigma
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Texas dinosaur track! 🦖👣 We spent this past long weekend visiting friends in Austin. One morning, @thegreaterthomson and I explored the nearby dinosaur tracks along the San Gabriel River. This is one of about a dozen in a gorgeous trackway likely made by Acrocanthosaurus, a meat-eating theropod dinosaur 🦖 that lived in Texas during the early Cretaceous, ~115 million years ago. More photos to follow once I’m less sleepy 💤 📍This trackway is on the ancestral homelands of the Tonkawa and Comanche people. #Acrocanthosaurus#dinosaur#dinosaurtracks#paleontology#paleontologist#dinosaurs#prehistoric#igTexas#atx#tracefossil#dinosaurfootprints#geology#cretaceous#theropod#trackway#footprint#naturalhistory#geologyrocks
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I did not fully appreciate Triceratops horns until seeing them up close at my job @museum_of_the_rockies, they are beyond cool! Here I’m holding an orbital horn (one from above the eyes 👀) from a subadult Triceratops dinosaur. Yep, a subadult, meaning not fully grown. The horns can be way bigger than this one! I love seeing the grooves for veins and arteries. They are one of the ways we know that Triceratops horns were covered with a keratin sheath, similar to bison, cows, bighorn sheep, and other mammals with horns 🐃🐐. Unfortunately, the keratin doesn’t fossilize, so we still don’t know exactly how big or how colorful the horns of a Triceratops would have been. 📍This fossil was discovered on the ancestral homelands of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Apsaalooké, Cheyenne and Očeti Šakówiŋ people. ✈️ Also, this post is the silver lining to my flight being cancelled today. I had plenty of time in the customer service line to write something for #FossilFriday! #DinoSelfie#paleontology#paleontologist#triceratops#scicomm#ceratopsian#triceratopshorns#dinosaur#hellcreek#cretaceous#prehistoric#montana#naturalhistorymuseum#jurassicpark#earthhistory#geology#palaeontology#geologyrocks