Amateur paleontological societies and fossil clubs, interactions with professional paleontologists, and social paleontology in the United States

Abstract

Considerable interest exists among lifelong learners in the USA about fossils and the science of paleontology. Unlike some other science-related groups, e.g., astronomy and ornithology, interest in fossils among amateur paleontologists is primarily focused within local clubs and societies with little national coordination. This paper presents the results of formative evaluation of the FOSSIL project, conducted after the project "Kickoff" meeting held at the NAPC (North American Paleontological Convention) in 2014. FOSSIL is developing a national networked community of practice that includes amateur and professional paleontologists. Our research indicates that more than 60 amateur fossil clubs and societies exist in the USA, of which almost 40 have elected to be part of the FOSSIL network. Overarching goals of this program include enhanced collaborations between amateurs and professionals, knowledge-building about paleontology, access to resources for lifelong learning, and development a viable learning community of practice focused on topics of common and societal interest, such as collections (including digitization), evolution, climate change, and K-12 outreach. In addition to more traditional means such as list-serves and newsletters, FOSSIL is developing an online community (myFOSSIL) and using social media (Facebook and Twitter) to foster communication and interactions among stakeholders, and thus promoting the concept of "social paleontology".

Scientific Twitter: The flow of paleontological communication across a topic network

“…The field of paleontology involves an active scientific community that is engaged across multiple digital niches, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram [8]. The community consists of such diverse participants as museums and their representatives, academic researchers, amateur fossil collectors (i.e.…”

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s Publication Policy Is Inconsistent With Scientific Epistemology

“…I feel compelled to do so for the betterment of our science and our community's culture. Furthermore, policies like these can further discourage amateurism and 'citizen science' that have historically been, and continue to be, vital for the progress of paleontology [37][38][39] . The amateur fossil collecting community is large, and can assist academic paleontology by contributing to fossil discovery, curation, or study.…”

Framing the future for taxonomic monography: Improving recognition, support, and access

“…We cannot succeed at documenting Earth's biodiversity at the rate that is necessary without becoming more collaborative and inclusive in our scientific practice (Costello et al, 2013). Therefore, we must establish efficient and inclusive monographic research communities that broaden the idea of partners in monography beyond the traditional academic community, extending to the expertise of non-academic scientists (i.e., "parataxonomists" as in Janzen, 2004), community-based volunteers (e.g., Foster-Smith & Evans, 2003MacFadden et al, 2016; but see Abadie et al, 2008;MacKenzie et al, 2017), and traditional knowledge-holders (Huntington, 2000;Mekbib, 2007;Cheng et al, 2020).…”