Kraig Derstler: Digging Up Dinosaurs Is in His Bones

A Westinghouse finalist's childhood fascination with fossils turns into a career in paleontology














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Derstler feels very lucky to still be studying fossils nearly four decades after his Westinghouse work. "It's better than having a real job," he quips. He tells young audience members that "in the summertime I don't have to take baths when I'm in the field. I can camp and travel all over the world, and nobody ever tells me to shut up when I'm talking about dinosaurs."


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  1. 1. Scooter1966 01:08 AM 5/6/09

    I didn't realize that someone could enter the Westinghouse competition with a topic in paleontology. By the time I tried to enter the competition, the final entries for previous years all involved biochemistry or engineering. I was trying to get tuition to study vertebrate paleontology!

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  2. 2. Scooter1966 01:18 AM 5/6/09

    I didn't realize that a topic in paleontology could be entered in the Westinghouse competition. By the time I tried to enter, all the previous years' finalists submitted topics in biochemistry or engineering. I was trying to get tuition money to study vertebrate paleontology!

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