Paleontology as a dream profession

As a toddler growing up outside of Houston, Myria was crazy about dinosaurs and

asked her parents to make frequent trips into the center of town to visit the Houston

Museum of Natural Science. At age 12, she asked a paleontology staff member at

the Houston Museum if she could volunteer. They said yes, on the condition that her

mother came along. For the next few years, Myria’s mother was her champion,

driving her an hour every weekend so that she could volunteer and learn how to

prepare fossils. Later, in high school, Myria earned the Girl Scout Gold Award by

focusing on paleontology.

Since paleontology degrees are generally not offered at college level, Myria chose to

double-major in Geology and Anthropology at Southern Methodist University where

luckily there was a fossil lab where she could learn more skills. Today, Myria is in her

dream job, working with an array of tools to unearth bones and fossils, and help

assemble large skeletal displays at the Smithsonian.