What is the SWAU Dinosaur Dig?

For 25 years, Southwestern Adventist University has been conducting a dinosaur excavation research project in the Lance Formation of eastern Wyoming. We are quarrying in an extremely rich bone bed, finding the remains of a large number of upper Cretaceous dinosaurs. This project provides an exciting opportunity to learn advanced quarrying techniques and experience the joy of discovery for everyone that participates.

Why Give to the Southwestern Adventist University Dino Dig App and Hanson Ranch Field Station Projects?

These projects will continue to support the progress we have made over the past two-and-a-half decades in pioneering the use of GPS technology to map bone beds, in getting schools and churches involved in the study of paleontology and origins, and in the development of strong and credible relationships with our scientific colleagues.

Dino Dig App Project

The Dino Dig has been managed entirely on paper. The number of participants has grown, and so has the number of dinosaur fossils uncovered. Managing the logistics for these large numbers—hundreds of participants and thousands of fossils every year—has become increasingly difficult. Dig leadership has created specifications for a Dig Management App to meet these challenges. This App will digitize the entire dig workflow from start to finish, allowing Dig leaders to spend their time on research instead of paperwork and participants to enter fossil data digitally instead of in paper notebooks. This Dig Management App will be the first of its kind, once again establishing Southwestern Adventist University at the leading edge of paleontology, years ahead of secular paleontology projects.

Southwestern Adventist University's exclusive access to this world-class deposit of dinosaur fossils calls for an equally world-class tool to manage the project. The software will support the work during expeditions and beyond. Its purpose is to help the workflow of employees and volunteers during bone excavation, packaging, and transportation. It will also make information available in real-time to researchers worldwide.

The Hanson Field Station 

Your gift will support the construction of a new field station. The previous field station, which supported the needs of our researchers and participants since 2001, was destroyed in 2020 by a tornado. A new field station must be built for the project to remain viable and grow. Not only will a new field station facilitate the needs of our research, but it will also allow us to expand our mission to engage the public in the field of paleontology.

What Are the Benefits of My Donations to These Projects?

Donors will be encouraged to join us on a dig and use the new app. Also, a list of donors will be displayed at the entrance to the new field station. We will also be naming rooms after the largest donors if they permit recognition.