Many Paleontologists Today Are Part Of The 'Jurassic Park' Generation

Paleontology is experiencing a golden age, with a new dinosaur species discovered every 10 days on average. Those inspired by the film Jurassic Park as children are now exiting Ph.D. programs and injecting the field with new talent.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Right now, paleontology is booming. Lots of scientists are entering the field, competing for academic and research jobs. And a new dinosaur species is being discovered on average every 10 days.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Many people who work in paleontology think what's happening today is tied to a summer blockbuster that hit movie theaters 25 years ago.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JURASSIC PARK")

BOB PECK: (As Muldoon) Joffrey, raise the gate.

JOSEPH FREDERICKSON: I remember leaving my kindergarten class running to the car where my aunt and uncle were picking me up, and they took me to the movie theater and took me to go see this PG-13 rated movie called "Jurassic Park." And from the onset, when you see that first cage with the raptor in it... and.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JURASSIC PARK")

FREDERICKSON: ...I was standing on top of my chair.

SHAPIRO: That is paleontologist Joseph Frederickson. He's part of the "Jurassic Park" generation that's now helping to create a golden age of dinosaur discovery.

FREDERICKSON: Right off the bat, dino mania; I owned every dinosaur, "Jurassic Park" thing that I could get my hands on. And for at least four to five years, "Jurassic Park" was the biggest thing in my life. But going through adolescence, you know, you kind of forget about those things, and it wasn't really until I got into college and I kind of started to reflect on really what did I want to do with my life. And I ended up picking up "Jurassic Park" the novel again at that point, and I read it, and I found myself getting more and more interested in it again as I got through it. As soon as I put it down, I realized I needed to enroll in a paleontology class or a Earth science class to learn more.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS AND BOSTON POP ORCHESTRA'S "THEME (FROM "JURASSIC PARK")")

FREDERICKSON: The "Jurassic" generation is 100 percent a thing. I have colleagues - so many colleagues - who are, you know, in their early 30s who were just children when "Jurassic Park" came out. And I have no doubt that it meant just as much to every one of them as it did to me and can really point to that moment as being one of these life-changing events that really made them want to get into paleontology.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS AND BOSTON POP ORCHESTRA'S "THEME (FROM "JURASSIC PARK")")

FREDERICKSON: You know, we are finding more dinosaurs and more prehistoric animals than we ever have before at a rate that is just unprecedented. And it's not going to stop anytime soon because we have an army of paleontologists who are chomping at the bit to get out there who are all, in my situation, starting their careers right now.

CHANG: That's Joseph Frederickson, a newly minted professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He's a member of the "Jurassic Park" generation - paleontologists who were first inspired by the Steven Spielberg film 25 years ago.

SHAPIRO: Frederickson will defend his Ph.D. dissertation at the end of this month. It addresses a question prompted by the original "Jurassic Park" - did velociraptors, in fact, hunt in packs?

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JURASSIC PARK")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, screaming).

SHAPIRO: His conclusion - the movie probably took some liberties.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS AND BOSTON POP ORCHESTRA'S "THEME (FROM "JURASSIC PARK")")

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.