Director Woodruff back in Malta as GPDM sets to reopen

Cary Woodruff, Director of Paleontology for the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Malta returned to the "land of dinosaurs" in time that allowed him to quarantine per the COVID-19 guidelines and work towards opening the museum for the 2020 season which is set for Monday, June 1st.

Looking back at 2019 Woodruff reports is was a great year with many successes:

Our Jr. Paleo. Program had several young participants, and we love that so many kids are learning and experience the wonders of paleontology with us and our community. After 7 years the Edmontosaurus that we were collecting on the Koss Ranch for our Adult Paleontology Program has come to an end. We've collected all that's there, and it'll make an impressive addition to the Museum once all of the bones are cleaned and prepared.

The annual Wine & Dino event unveiled a new exhibit – a young Brachylophosaurus tail called DAK. According to Woodruff, DAK is important for several reasons including; 1) it is the most complete tail from a Brachylophosaurus ever found – it even has the very tip of the tail, and 2) DAK has a much of broken and re-healed bone, indicting it was attacked. In fact, broken off teeth from a meat-eating dinosaur shows that this young Brachylophosaurus survived an attack from a would-be predator!

We also added an enormous wall-sized mural depicting the world of Brachylophosaurus that was done by world renowned paleo artist Julius Csotonyi. Many parts of this new display also include braille text for those visitors that are visually impaired; and we're the very first natural history museum in all of Montana to do this!

My scientific paper on our two stegosaurs – "Giffen" and "Gates" – was published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. I was fortunate to work with the foremost stegosaur expert in the world – Dr. Susannah Maidment of the Natural History Museum in England, and Dave Trexler of the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center in Bynum, MT in this effort. For those who would read for free, go to https://sgp.ing.pan.pl/archive/published/app64/app005852018.pdf, and be sure to come by and see these fossils in person!

In June of 2019, coinciding with our Wine & Dino, we hosted an international symposium. From townspeople to dinosaur enthusiasts, teachers, and world experts, our symposium brought everyone together for an amazing weekend. Over Saturday and Sunday, guests heard lectures on a myriad of paleontology topics centered around Phillips County's most famous dinosaur bearing formation – the Judith River Formation. Our Symposium brought some of the most famous dinosaur paleontologists in the world to Malta – including Dr. Jack Horner, Dr. Phil Currie, Dr. David Evans, Dr. Thomas Carr, and 15 other word renowned paleontologists! We were so fortunate to be able to host such an amazing event, and of course, we couldn't have had such a successful event without the amazing and generous support from our community.

Dixie Stordahl the museum's General Administrator reports that more than 320 k-12 students toured GPDM last year and average annual visitation to the museum is 2,300. Stordahl keeps close track of where visitors are from and notes that international visitors came from South Africa, the Netherlands, German, Australian, and 3 Canadian Provinces.

Woodruff stated GPDM is anxious to re-open and will do so according to safety precautions outlined by the state and local health department. Important dates and reminders include our official opening on June 1st, but we want everyone to know that we will schedule special visits for groups of 3 or more and to contact the museum at 406.654.5300 for a reservation.

GPDM is providing new opportunities for youth field and lab experiences on certain Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer plus additional scheduled dates with a group minimum of three. Adults Dino Dig dates start on July 6th and August 10th. Please contact us or visit our website details on dates, fees, and how to register.

Annual membership and donor request letters are being mailed out and details of the Duck Race will be announced soon. Woodruff encourages local visitation and invites interested volunteers to inquire at the museum or please call us anytime at (406) 654-5300 or email us at [email protected].

Board of Directors: Mardy Demarais, Damien Austin, Lu Besel, Anne Boothe, Dixie Stordahl, Stephanie Nagel, David Rummel, Kenny Clark, Randy Shores, Scott Meneely, and Katie Smith. Staff: Cary Woodruff, Dixie Stordahl, Dollyann Willcutt, and Tammy Peterson.