Blog 23: Exit Interview Prep

There's nothing quite like a funny meme to unnerve me before an interview. That poor Tyrannosaurus rex it was so close, yet so far.

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is "How can a paleontologist best reconstruct the life of a prehistoric creature" and my answers to this question are that a paleontologist can analyze the context a fossilized creature was found in, analyze the fossils associated with that creature, or use the comparative method and the creature's phylogenetic context to reconstruct aspects of that prehistoric creature that wouldn't normally be known. 

As for the best answer to this question, there isn't a best answer. each of the answers that I stated before have their limitations as to what type of information they can reveal about an ancient creature and it would be very ignorant for a paleontologist to stick to only one of these answers. In fact, I would argue that the best way for a paleontologist to reconstruct the life of a prehistoric creature is to take up a holistic approach to paleontology and use all of the answers I have and to use the other methods that I didn't include as answers like evodevo, or isotope analysis. There are so many approaches that are leading to fascinating discoveries in paleontology. I think that this is the best answer to my question because the scientific method calls for hypotheses to be tested repeatedly until so much evidence is built up either for them or against them that it becomes hard to deny them. This means that by using different approaches towards reconstructing the life of a prehistoric creature, paleontologists can use that mountain of evidence to either contradict or support that reconstruction of that creature. 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

At first, I was going to lean towards my second answer, because fossils provide very indisputable evidence for the reconstruction of a prehistoric creature, because they are actual physical remnants of that creature. However, I began to lean towards my current answer when I started to notice how interwoven each of my three answers were. If I wanted to get as much information about the context a fossilized creature is found in, there would most likely be the fossils of other creatures that would need to be analyzed in order to get detailed information. Also, if I want to compare a fossil to another fossil or the bone of a modern day animal, I still need to analyze that fossil to get the information I need to compare it to another animal's bone. This interconnectedness between all my answers revealed to me that a paleontologist would have their view of the ancient world severely limited if they didn't use any and every type of analysis possible to squeeze as much information as possible from the remnants of ancient creatures.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

While I was researching for this project I had many issues trying to come up with reputable sources of information for my topic and in addition to that I was having a hard time deciding what the focus of my project should be. I was able to resolve my research problem by being introduced to Cal Poly Pomona's amazing online database, which helped me a lot. With this influx of detailed studies, I began to be pushed towards reconstruction. The final key to the puzzle for me from there was finding this really cool article that I unfortunately didn't save, that talked about how museum exhibits are supposed to teach their viewers a story and to fill them with awe. After that and some help from my mentor Eric Scott, Mr. Rivas, and Mrs. Ortega, I arrived to my EQ, which gave me the direction that I desperately craved. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

One significant source was the Cal Poly database because many of the sources I have came from their database and all of those sources added to my understanding of what a paleontologist does by showing me the outcome of their hard work. The other significant source for me was my interviews with my mentor, Dr. Stuart Sumida, Dr. Andrew Farke, and Dr. Mathew Wedel. These accomplished scientists and absolute role models were part of the reason why I began seeing how my answers to my essential question were interwoven with each other and they all gave me insight as to how an accomplished paleontologist should go about reconstructing the ancient world.