What does a paleontologist study? What does an archaeologist do? Why are there no mummies in Jurassic Park? Why doesn’t Indiana Jones have dinosaurs? Join us to find out the REAL who, what, where, why and when of your favorite “-ology,” paleont- or archae-! Meet scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Penn Museum, and “dig up” why two scientific studies with similar techniques may be totally different. Featuring Ted Daeschler of ANS and Megan Kassabaum of the Penn Museum.

Ask the Scientists is a fun, interactive program where kids lead the conversation! While kids of all ages are welcome, adult assistance is recommended to enable virtual questioning.

Ted Daeschler, PhD, is a vertebrate paleontologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. His research interests are centered on vertebrate fossils from the Late Devonian Period (390 to 360 million years old), including the origin of limbed vertebrates. This research program includes fieldwork in Devonian-age rocks in Pennsylvania, the Canadian Arctic and Antarctica.

Megan Kassabaum, PhD, is an archaeologist and a curator at the Penn Museum. She excavates at prehistoric Native American sites in the southeastern United States, especially those at which past people constructed large, earthen monuments called mounds. Her studies of these sites examine questions of ritual and religion, food and feasting, and the use of ceramic technology.

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Part of our virtual Paleopalooza festival! For more details, visit ansp.org/paleopalooza.