We're pushing hard to make a world class museum here in Dickinson.

We already have one of the biggest dinosaur fieldwork programs in the region, and are rapidly developing our paleontology collections and laboratory. This allows us to prepare new skeletons for research and display in our exhibit hall.

There are many ways you can support the paleontology program: why not take out an annual membership, or consider donating to one of our projects. We greatly appreciate donations of any size, including non-financial contributions of labor, materials, and in-kind donations.

Membership

Show your support by becoming a museum member and receive free entry and other benefits, including shop discounts and invitations to special events.

There are multiple levels of membership for individuals, families, and businesses.

Individual annual memberships start at $15 (student); $20 (Retired), or $25 (adult). Family memberships start at $50, and business memberships at $100.

Donate

Fieldwork

Help us build Dickinson's fossil collection by funding a dinosaur dig.

We have dozens of scientifically important dinosaur sites that need excavating. Field funding pays for essentials like fuel to get to and from sites; dig tools and glues; plaster and burlap to make jackets for the fossils; and food for field crew members. Some dig sites might be possible to visit in person to see your donation in action!

Field donors can have a magnet printed bearing the donor's logo which is attached to our field vehicle.

Exhibits

Our exhibit is undergoing major changes, with a total overhaul planned over the coming years.

The new exhibit will be focused on how we use the scientific method to test hypotheses about the biology of extinct animals. It will feature examples from published scientific research, along with new research and fossil discoveries made by museum staff.

Please consider sponsoring an exhibit case - sponsors will be acknowledged on the case and on the donor board in the lobby.

Laboratory

Digging up fossils is only the first step. The museum preparation lab is where we open up the plaster jackets and remove rock from around the dinosaur bones.

Support pays for glues, tiny picks, specialized tools like low-vibration pneumatic chisels, and the highly skilled labor needed to prepare delicate specimens. Sponsor general lab operations, or choose a specific project to sponsor from start to finish.

Sponsorship of the lab includes prominent placement of sponsor details visible from the viewing gallery.

Collections

This is where the new fossils are safely stored in perpetuity so that they can studied by future generations.

Your donation pays for chemically stable storage equipment like powder-coated steel cabinets, acid free boxes, and even permanent inks for specimen labels. Sponsorship also helps us achieve and maintain government repository status so that the fossils we collect on public lands can remain in Dickinson.

Entrances to the fossil storage areas are prominently positioned at the far end of the main exhibit hall ensuring high visibility for sponsor logos or your choice of text.

Research

We have some amazing new fossils that need to be studied with the latest techniques.

Sponsorship pays for research-necessities like laboratory analyses, visits to other fossil collections for comparisons, 3D scanning of fossil specimens, photography, and traveling to research conferences to present our findings.

Sponsor a research project and be the first to see the results!

Education

Research education packs: When we publish new research, your sponsorship will help produce education packs of lesson plans and fossil replicas so that teachers can incorporate the latest science into their classes.

Basic fossil education packs: Help us utilize our Education Collection of common fossils and rocks to produce "traveling trunks" filled with paleontology and geology lesson plans and real fossils for students to touch. These trunks will be available to teachers across North Dakota and surrounding areas.