A paleontology journey can start at any time. Erika Tandy’s began in 1974 with a playset featuring 29 prehistoric animals in classic 1970s lead-infused plastic. This “exposure” led to a lifelong obsession with dead things, particularly dinosaurs and other ancient reptiles. An artistic and curious child, Erika spent hours drawing and collecting random expired creatures, much to her mother’s discomfort. Skeletons held great beauty and led to an education focused around science and art. After graduating college with a BFA in Illustration, she worked for a research hospital, producing many wound healing illustrations and learning about medicine on the fly.

In 2000, a side quest took her into corporate tech, a field that couldn’t be more different than medical research. However, the paychecks supported many international adventures, and in each one Erika made sure to visit the city’s natural history museum. Thus, her beloved bones followed her wherever she went.

In 2020, Erika decided it was time to fully resume her childhood journey and return to paleontology. Since then, she’s been on numerous digs, and has put in over 1500 volunteer hours at several institutions in the central Texas area. At the two UT Austin Paleontology labs, she helps curate and assist with research, make molds and casts, and repairs and conserves fossils. She recently presented her first poster on identifying artiodactyl metapodials from two unexplored caves and is currently painting a cast of the Friesenhahn saber cat, Homotherium serum.

Geoff Notkin starred in the multi-award-winning television adventure series "Meteorite Men" for Discovery networks and the educational series "STEM Journals," for which he won two Emmy Awards. He has also appeared in shows for Nat Geo, History Channel, Travel Channel, TLC, PBS, A&E, NASA EDGE, and the BBC. He is an author, photographer, paleontology enthusiast, meteorite specialist, world traveler, film producer, and TEDx speaker. Notkin has appeared on "Coast to Coast", "Varney & Co.," and the "Today" show, and has been interviewed by "The Washington Post," "The Huffington Post," The BBC World Service, Space.com, "Universe Today" and many other media outlets.

An award-winning author, Notkin has published hundreds of articles on science, adventure travel, history, and the arts, with his work appearing in "Smithsonian," "Astronomy," "National Geographic," "Sky & Telescope," "USA Today," "Wired," "Reader’s Digest," "The Village Voice," "Rock & Gem," and he was a columnist for "Tucson Citizen" and "Ad Astra" magazine. Notkin is the author of four books including the IPPY Award-winner "Meteorite Hunting: How To Find Treasure From Space."

Notkin is a member of The Explorer’s Club, sits on the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, the Board of Directors of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences, and the Board of Directors of the Astrosociology Research Institute. The minor planet 132904, discovered at Mount Palomar, was officially named “Notkin” by the Minor Planet Center in recognition of his contributions to science, education, and the arts.

Colin Boisvert is 26 years old and working towards trying to become a tenure-track professor one day at a university. He is currently a PhD student at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As a paleontologist he has always been fascinated by Dinosaurs and especially allosauroids though he has a soft spot for Pleistocene megafauna as well. He has spent time digging in both Montana and Utah through grad school and Internships and hopes to expand that list of dig locations in the future. In his free time Colin loves hiking with friends, visiting family, visting natural history museums, watching movies and reading.

One day fossil dig in the Hell Creek Formation with PaleoAdventures

Meet at the field station at 8:00 am

Must RSVP ahead of field trip by following link in June HCPS Newsletter

Cost: $85.00 per person (space is limited)

Must be 12 years old or older to attend

Virtual guided tour of the Black Hills Institute.

Open to all HCPS members.

Link has been emailed to HCPS membership.

Meet at 11:00 AM in front of the Museum

Includes an orientation video and guided bonebed tour.

Cost: $9.50 per person.

RSVP link can be found in June HCPS Newsletter.