Voices

Cretaceous excavationIn recent years, mining operations in the oil sands of northeastern Alberta have uncovered fossils of 13 marine reptiles and one dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period; it is Donald Henderson’s job to recover these finds

In recent years, mining operations in the oil sands of northeastern Alberta have uncovered fossils of 13 marine reptiles and one dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period; it is Donald Henderson’s job to recover these finds

By Ailbhe Goodbody

September 07, 2023

Royal Tyrrell Museum technician Mark Mitchell points to plesiosaur neck bones at the Syncrude mine in 2011. Courtesy of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

After receiving his primary degree in geophysics at the University of Toronto, Donald Henderson did a PhD in vertebrate paleontology at the University of Bristol in the U.K. He then spent five years as a postdoc at the University of Calgary, twice taking summer jobs at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta. In 2006, he joined the museum full time as curator of dinosaurs, and since then he has supervised many of the fossil excavations at oil sands mines.

This is NOT A PAYWALL To access CIM Magazine, please create a free account

(Note that by creating an account you are not signing up for a CIM membership.)

If you are a CIM member or have already signed up, click here to log in

If you already have a CIM account, please enter your username (often your email) and your password.

If this is your first time here, you can create a free account

Forgot your password?

More Voices

The Dome School of Mines

Kelsey Rolfe

On the eve of the closure of the Dome mine, CIM Magazine spoke with current and former employees about its place in mining history

Women of Innovation

Anne Millar and Mary Wells

Women of Innovation recounts the stories of 20 inspiring and innovative women engineers in Canada