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> introduced her to DePalma, at the time a graduate student at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. DePalma holds the lease to the Tanis site, which sits on priv

> introduced her to DePalma, at the time a graduate student at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. DePalma holds the lease to the Tanis site, which sits on private land, and controls access to it. How does a grad student hold the lease to a famed fossil site? There is more to this story.

ComputerGuru 4y ago
Apparently there is a "long-standing practice in paleontology" for researchers to pay private landowners for (exclusive) access to search for fossils on their private property - at least according to this New Yorker article [1] - and that DePalma arranged for that to further his research. It seems that after the initial promising findings, DePalma put together (with the help of investors or benefactors?) the money for an exclusive long-term lease. > He found many complete fish, which are rare in the Hell Creek Formation, and he figured that he could remove them intact if he worked with painstaking care. He agreed to pay the rancher a certain amount for each season that he worked there. (The specifics of the arrangement, as is standard practice in paleontology, are a closely guarded secret. The site is now under exclusive long-term lease.) [1]: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-dinosaurs-died https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-di...
defrost 4y ago
He's 41 and may well be independantly wealthy from family, etc. It's probable he applied for and gained a lease to dig from the land owner as far back as 2012 when he first started to dig there [1]. One might as well ask "How does a Grad Student own a billion dollar mining operation and invest in expanding global green hydrogen production?" [2] (Although to be fair he ceased to be a "grad student" in 2019 when his Doctorate was conferred) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanis_(fossil_site) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanis_(fossil_site) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Forrest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Forrest
boomboomsubban 4y ago
>How does a grad student hold the lease to a famed fossil site? There is more to this story. He likely bought it before it was famed. Southwest ND is almost all badlands and thus very cheap. Like under a thousand dollars per acre cheap.
keepquestioning 4y ago
DePalma is up to something. This will not end well for all parties

ComputerGuru 4y ago

Apparently there is a "long-standing practice in paleontology" for researchers to pay private landowners for (exclusive) access to search for fossils on their private property - at least according to this New Yorker article [1] - and that DePalma arranged for that to further his research. It seems that after the initial promising findings, DePalma put together (with the help of investors or benefactors?) the money for an exclusive long-term lease. > He found many complete fish, which are rare in the Hell Creek Formation, and he figured that he could remove them intact if he worked with painstaking care. He agreed to pay the rancher a certain amount for each season that he worked there. (The specifics of the arrangement, as is standard practice in paleontology, are a closely guarded secret. The site is now under exclusive long-term lease.) [1]: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-dinosaurs-died https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-di...

defrost 4y ago

He's 41 and may well be independantly wealthy from family, etc. It's probable he applied for and gained a lease to dig from the land owner as far back as 2012 when he first started to dig there [1]. One might as well ask "How does a Grad Student own a billion dollar mining operation and invest in expanding global green hydrogen production?" [2] (Although to be fair he ceased to be a "grad student" in 2019 when his Doctorate was conferred) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanis_(fossil_site) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanis_(fossil_site) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Forrest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Forrest

boomboomsubban 4y ago

>How does a grad student hold the lease to a famed fossil site? There is more to this story. He likely bought it before it was famed. Southwest ND is almost all badlands and thus very cheap. Like under a thousand dollars per acre cheap.

keepquestioning 4y ago

DePalma is up to something. This will not end well for all parties