The University of Montana Paleontology Center

Services and Facilities

The University of Montana Paleontology Center (UMPC) is headed by a Director, Professor George Stanley, and a full-time Collections Manager, Kallie Moore. It is staffed by part-time graduate students, undergraduates, and volunteers. An online fossil database supports internal/external research and educational programs. School or organizational tours of the facility are also available. Please contact the Collections Manager for questions or to schedule your tour. The UMPC also makes short-term loans to qualified researchers. Institutional exchanges also can be arranged. To request a loan or arrange for a visit, please contact Prof. Stanley. For information regarding existing loans or loan applications, please contact the Collections Manager. UMPC routinely hosts meetings and visits from local, national, and international scientists who come to study our fossil collections. Space is provided at the UMPC for visiting researchers wishing to study the fossil collections. If you are a researcher from another University or organization, please contact the Director for further information.

The UMPC is located in the Charles H. Clapp building (CHCB) at the University of Montana's main campus in Missoula. The Clapp building is located on the south part of the campus near the U.S. Forest Service facility on Beckwith Avenue. Parking permits are required and are available from the Parking Office on Campus Drive (near the stadium). The facilities of the UMPC consist of 1,500 sq. feet of collection space in the basement (CHCB 006), a 800 sq. feet preparation lab on the third floor (CHCB 323), an adjacent acid lab, a computer room for utilizing the 3D modeling scanner, and public exhibit areas.

Exhibits: Displays featuring some of the UMPC holdings are located on the first and third floors of the Charles H. Clapp Building and are available to the public Monday to Friday during regular university hours of operations.

About the UMPC

The UMPC and the associated Field Station at Fort Peck were established by the Montana Board of Regents of in 2005 with a mission of education and research in order to preserve the fossil heritage of Montana and other regions. It serves as a center for research, teaching, public outreach, and for giving national and international recognition to the State. In 2008 the UMPC received a generous grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to renovate the basement storage facility and install a Space-Saver compactor system with 45 new metal cases that will accommodate UM’s growing fossil collection. The UMPC is also a State repository for important fossil discoveries.

The UM Field Station of Paleontology

The UM Field Station is located in northeastern Montana at Fort Peck Paleontology Incorporated, Fort Peck. UMPC uses the facilities as their UM Field Station of Paleontology during the summer months. Students and the public can participate in digs, learn preparation techniques, and receive course credit. The University of Montana has partnered with FPPI to help them facilitate their educational and economic development. To see a developing catalog of specimens housed at the UM Field Station/FPPI, click here

Online Database

An online "Museum without walls" helps to support local and international research and education. It can also interface with other national and international databases. This data base is an ever-growing inventory of our entire collections. Currently, over 25,000 specimens have been entered into this data base. These include the type specimens that can be accessed though this online database (see the "Collections" tab).

Collections:

The UMPC’s paleontological collections represent the ancient heritage of Montana and western North America. They serve the University community and support research endeavors and provide support for geological instruction in the Department of Geosciences. This research collection, which started in 1898, consists of vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant specimens. These specimens are organized by geologic age, location, and taxon. There are over 100,000 specimens in the collection and over 1,500 of these are type (published) specimens that are housed in 192 metal cases. Many of these are electronically automated, offering students and professional researchers remote access to a diverse suite of fossil organisms. The Department of Geosciences also maintains a geological collection which includes minerals, economic samples, and a petrographic collection. Publications related to our collections are available.

UMPC has over 100,000 fossil specimens housed in a basement facility. These collections are stratigraphically organized and many are electronically automated, affording students and professional researchers remote access to a diverse suite of fossil organisms from soft-bodied invertebrates to plants and vertebrates. The UMPC fossil collection serves the University community in various research projects and provides support for geological instruction in the department of Geosciences.

Paleo Exploration Project (PEP)

(PEP) Website: http://pep.explore-ed.com/

Public outreach, science, and technology are key components of this project involving Montana pre-high school student and teachers. This inquiry-based program’s goals are to create a “community of learners” by stimulating interest in science and technology at a critical educational stage among school children. It was made possible by a large, three-year NSF grant. The PEP involves the students, staff, and facility from the UMPC and the University of Montana Geosciences, Geography, and Education departments. Pre-high school teachers and students are recruited from rural eastern Montana communities to participate in the project. This includes workshops on paleontology and GIS technology held at Glasgow, Fort Peck, and on the UM campus. This culminated in 2007 and 2008 as a "Summer Science Institute" with field experiences at dig sites in the Fort Peck area during which both students and teachers learn techniques in paleontology and GIS technology.

Fort Peck Paleontology Incorporated:

(FPPI) Website: http://www.fortpeckpaleo.com/fieldstation.html

FPPI is a privately incorporated, non-profit, organization located in northeastern Montana at Fort Peck, Montana. It produces casts of large vertebrate fossils and sells those to universities and museums in the U.S. and overseas. The facility boasts one of the largest preparation and casting laboratories in the West. They also have preparation equipment and act as a repository of valuable fossils from the region. Their collection houses many dinosaurs, marine reptiles, and Neogene mammals from Montana, as well as the nearly complete skeleton of Fort Peck’s Rex. FPPI is located west of the Fort Peck Dam Interpretive Center and Museum, in the building that served as the laundry facility during the construction of the dam. In 2006 the UMPC entered into a partnership with FPPI to promote education and research endeavors.