The BYU Museum of Paleontology is marking its 50th anniversary this year, a milestone for the BYU Department of Geological Sciences and the university's history in paleontology.
Located in a tin-steel building near LaVell Edwards Stadium, the BYU Museum of Paleontology opened in 1976 as a place to prepare and display fossils collected by its first curator, James A. Jensen, and his team. When the museum first opened, it was called the BYU Earth Sciences Museum.
As the collection continued to expand in 2009, the museum was renamed the BYU Museum of Paleontology. Before expansion, many fossils were stored at LaVell Edwards Stadium, but now BYU's full collection is stored at the museum.
The museum houses many fossils of dinosaurs and other species from various locations, particularly in Utah and Colorado.
Rod Scheetz, the current curator, said he became interested in paleontology as a young boy, after discovering baby dinosaur fossils and showing them to Jensen. As his mentor, Jensen's encouragement helped him enter the field.
Scheetz recalled digging at quarries with Jensen, noting Jensen often hired returned missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to work alongside him, which helped Scheetz become familiar with them.
"The dinosaurs brought me to the Church," Scheetz said.
Paleontology faculty and students at BYU spend their summers collecting fossils, many specializing in dinosaur paleontology, before bringing them to the museum’s lab in Provo.
“It’s discovery wherever you go,” Sheetz said. “You can look at the same thing 100 times, and something will grab your attention.”
The museum receives many visitors from near and far. Camden Newman, a local science communication specialist and paleo lab technician intern, said he loves the museum, describing the Utahraptor, Moabsaurus and Gastonia as some of his favorite exhibits.
"I love seeing the lab and what they are working on. The Carcharodontosaurus skull is a personal favorite because I worked at a lab that did that reconstruction," Newman said.
Scheetz said the most rewarding part of his job is the "discovery everywhere you go, consistent discovery."
"It gives a whole new dimension," Brooks Britt, chair of the BYU Department of Geneological Sciences, said. He noticed that of all the museums on campus, the Museum of Paleontology goes the furthest back in time.
Britt said that when people go outside, they see birds and plants, but it is "just a smidge" of history.
As BYU celebrates its 150th anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the BYU Museum of Paleontology shows that the university continues to move forward, while also looking deep into the past.
The BYU Museum of Paleontology is free and open to the public, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1683 North Canyon Road, Provo, Utah.
For more information, visit the BYU Museum of Paleontology website.