Jay’s guest for this episode is Dr. Sharon Weaver, the curator at the Mammoth Site exhibit at Hot Springs, South Dakota. Sharon holds a B.S. in Geology from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, an M.S. in Geosciences from East Tennessee State University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Florida. Her Ph.D. dissertation was presented on 3D comparisons of the humerus, radius and ulna of modern carnivorans to early Miocene carnivorans. In the last couple of years, she has become more involved with cave paleontology and caving in general, leading to further research and education opportunities at The Mammoth Site.

She first visited the site at age 12, and she’s been intrigued by it every since. Sharon is passionate about sharing all the different ways people can study paleontology, and she finds that educating others is one of the most important things a scientist can do. Among her professional associations, Sharon is director and environmental education committee chair for the National Speleologic Society of America, a board member of the Cave Discovery Institute, and a member of the Geological Society of America and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

At the site, Sharon has concentrated mostly on mammals. Her major projects currently include Ice Age giant ground sloths from the Great Plains region, cave fauna of the black hills, exhibit design, and development of adult education programming.