Elevation Science for Natural History Exploration

08/22/2026

The 2026 Red Lodge Fun Run is coming up, and Team Elevation Science needs you! 🏃🦖

Each summer, the Red Lodge community comes together to support the nonprofit organizations doing work throughout the region, and we’re proud to once again be part of it.

Funds raised for Elevation Science this year will help support Ancient Worlds, Modern Classrooms, our effort to turn the science and discoveries happening in the field into virtual educational resources teachers can bring into their classrooms.

However you choose to support us, you’re helping us share the excitement of science with more people.

Learn more and donate: https://www.rlacf.org/programs/thrivingnonprofits/fun-run/participating-charities/elevation-science-institute/

08/18/2026

It's official - the 2026 field season is over! Check out how extraction day went for us, where we filled all of our dig sites back in and extracted some pretty big fossils!

After seven weeks in the field, Extraction Day has arrived.This i...

08/18/2026

Extraction Day marks the official end of our field season.

After an entire summer of work, we return to our excavation sites one final time with a big to-do list.

Tools, supplies, and equipment are collected. The large fossil jackets that couldn't be removed earlier in the season are finally extracted. Then comes the not-so-small task of shoveling backfill into the quarries to help protect the sites and any fossils remaining in the ground.

Thankfully, our friend Tim Kirk and his Bobcat gave us a major helping hand with that last part!

Once the work is finished, the large jackets are loaded onto the trailer. They'll eventually travel to the Paleo Prep Lab at Cincinnati Museum Center, where our Paleo Lab Manager, Katie Hunt, and the CMC volunteers can begin preparing these fossils.

Seven weeks of fieldwork all led to this day. Take a look at what it takes to officially close out another Elevation Science field season!

08/17/2026

Today, we're celebrating National Nonprofit Day and the community that makes the work of Elevation Science possible!

Our mission reaches beyond the fossils we uncover. We conduct scientific research, provide hands-on educational experiences, create opportunities for students and aspiring scientists, connect the public with natural history, and encourage people to stay curious about the world around them.

None of that happens without our Elevation Science family.

We're incredibly grateful for every participant who has joined us in the field, every donor who has supported a project or scholarship, every volunteer who has given their time and energy, every organization that has partnered with us, and every person who follows along and shares our love of science.

If you'd like to celebrate National Nonprofit Day by supporting Elevation Science, donations of any amount help us continue our research and educational mission.

Donate here: https://elevationscience.org/fuel-discovery

Thank you for helping us keep science accessible, exciting, and full of discovery.

08/14/2026

How do paleontologists close a dig site?

This week, field intern Matthew Wilbur takes us through that vital part of fieldwork. Some fossils simply can't wait until we come back next year. So, paleontologists work hard to remove as much fossil as they can!

Then, when we have all the fossils we can possibly get out for the season, it's time to close up the site.

Happy Fossil Friday! Thank you all for tuning into the 2026 field interns' Fossil Friday takeover all summer!

08/13/2026

"In honor of my brave daughter for her 1st solo trip in Belize! Proud of you, Lilly!"

Thanks to our very own Executive Director, Jason Schein, for sponsoring a field jacket this year... And in honor of his daughter at that! What could be better than honoring someone than with dinosaurs?

The answer: Nothing!

08/12/2026

It's "Whatcha Workin' On?" Wednesday! 🦴

Elevation Science is about halfway through the FINAL week of the 2026 expedition! Can you believe it? We can't either!

This week, our team is focusing on the fossils we are able to get out this year, and also forming a plan for how to protect the dinosaur bones that we will come back for next year. Check out what everyone has been working on this week!

08/11/2026

Not to brag but... We do have the coolest jobs out there 🪏🦕

08/09/2026

Only one week left... and plenty of dinosaurs still in the ground!

Week 6 of our 2026 field expedition was all about making the most of the time we have left. We focused on excavating the fossils already exposed across our sites, continued making progress on fossils we've been working on throughout the summer, and made some exciting new discoveries along the way!

See what happened during our second-to-last week in the field in the latest episode of our Field Season 2026 vlog.

Watch the full vlog here:

Week 6 of the 2026 Elevation Science field expedition is complete, ...