Saying Goodbye to Field Station: Dinosaurs
Somewhere in the middle of the 20-teens, I met several brilliant, enterprising, and fearless people that inspired me and changed my life. Those people played a big part in the Elevation Science’s origin story (one for another day), but none more so than Guy Gsell. He approached the paleontology staff at the museum I previously worked at with a crazy idea - to build an animatronic dinosaur park. (I know those are a dime a dozen these days, but this was new and innovative at that time.) Not a cheesy park with stiff, lifeless robots, mind you. No - he planned to build the most realistic, fully-emmersive, educational, and FUN dinosaur park in the world. Did he know anything about dinosaurs and paleontology? Nope. Did he have a background in science at all? Not even a little. Would this be a complete and total pivot from his previous careers? A leap of faith? Absolutely. Guy had more than enough fearlessness, intelligence, and creativity to make his vision come true, and in doing so, Field Station: Dinosaurs educated and thrilled literally millions of people since it opened its doors.
Educating and entertaining the multitudes would alone make Field Station: Dinosaurs a phenomenal success. But I would argue that its impact goes far beyond. Field Station: Dinosaurs inspired people to follow their own dreams, and in doing so helped to launch countless people into highly successful careers they couldn’t even conceive of prior to their time there; including in fields with even fewer job prospects than paleontology! Chris, a former ‘Dinosaur Troubador’, became a puppeteer for Sesame Street, then launched his own puppet company, even creating puppets for Frozen off Broadway! Blake is on his second tour with Sesame Street Live. Sebastiano also moved on to Sesame Street, while another former staff manager is now on Broadway! And I think it is safe to say that no one’s life took a bigger turn than Brooke. When Brooke started as ‘Expedition Manager’, she had only a biblical level of science education. She left just a few years later knowing that science would forever be a part of her life: today she is the Director of Exhibits at one of the premier science centers in the country (and joined us in Montana for almost 10 years in a row!)! Witnessing Guy fearlessly bring his vision to reality, and forging ahead through every triumph and challenge, inspired me to create Elevation Science Institute.
The final curtain call at Field Station: Dinosaurs in New Jersey will be this afternoon (the other location in Kansas lives on!). If I’m sad, that’s because it’s the end of an era in many ways: my kids grew up going there, and I can still see their little, astonished faces the first time they met the ‘Mighty T. rex’ (they can still sing the song!). If I’m proud, that’s because Elevation Science Institute has been the educational and scientific partner of Field Station, helping in some small way to bring Guy’s vision to life and helping to make memories for millions of visitors. More than anything, though, I’m happy that Field Station: Dinosaurs built a legacy of entertaining science education, and because they inspired so many others to follow their dreams to build something great of their own. What an incredible legacy of success.
#FondFarewellFSD
