William W. Little
Exploration Geologist
W.W. Little Geological Consulting
William W. Little holds a Ph.D. in sedimentology from the University of Colorado and taught as a Professor of Geology for nearly 30 years at various institutions before retiring in 2021 after seventeen years at BYU-Idaho.
He also worked as a geologist for the Missouri Geological Survey and now owns and operates W.W. Little Geological Consulting
Jim Kirkland
Utah State Paleontologist
Utah Geological Survey
Dr. Jim Kirkland has been the State Paleontologist with the Utah Geological Survey over 27 years. He issues permits for paleontological research on Utah state lands, keeps tabs on paleontological research and issues across the state, and promotes Utah’s paleontological resources for the public good.
An expert on the Mesozoic, he has spent more than fifty years excavating fossils across the southwestern US and Mexico.
Geoff Smith
Rock Art Guide
Castle Valley Archaeological Society
Geoff Smith is a past president and current active member of Castle Valley Archaeological Society.
Geoff is a 5th generation Emery County resident and currently serves as an advanced EMT for Emery County.
Paul Anderson
Exploration Geologist
Emery County, Utah
Paul Anderson has been a geologic consultant for nearly 40 years and a past resident of Emery, Utah, where he and his wife Mary Ann are active in the local community.
Paul is an expert on the Cretaceous geology of Emery County including its coal and gas resources as well as many other areas of the state.
Paul has served as president of the Utah Geological Association and has been awarded the prestigious Lehi Hintze Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Geology of Utah.
Layne Miller
Rock Art Guide
Price, Utah
Layne Miller has conducted rock art tours in Nine Mile Canyon, Range Creek, and the San Rafael Swell for over 20 years.
He is a founding member of the Utah Rock Art Research Association and the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition.
Tom Chidsey
Exploration Geologist
Utah Geological Survey
Tom Chidsey is an emeritus geologist from the Utah Geological Survey where he worked as a petroleum researcher for 31 years and 13 years prior in the oil and gas industry of Utah and Texas.
Tom has served as president of the Utah Geological Association and has been awarded the prestigious Lehi Hintze Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Geology of Utah.
ReBecca Hunt-Foster
Paleontologist
Paleontologist ReBecca Hunt-Foster is an expert on the Mill Canyon track site and was instrumental in its excavation.
Benjamin Burger
Paleontologist
Utah State University | Logan, Utah
Benjamin Burger Associate Professor of Geology at Utah State University. Benjamin currently works at Utah State University’s Uintah Basin campus in Vernal Utah teaching classes in paleontology and geology. He also maintains a YouTube channel on the geology of Utah. His active research centers on ancient climate change in deep time, and the geological history of the intermountain west.
Previously he has worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and earned graduate degrees at Stony Brook University in New York and the University of Colorado in Boulder.
David Berry
Geologist
Grand Junction, Colorado
David Berry is a retired geologist and water manager. As a geologist, he was primarily involved with minerals exploration and environmental work.
More recently, he taught geology classes as a lecturer at Colorado Mesa University.
Diana & Steve Acerson
Rock Art Guides
Utah Rock Art Research Association
Diana and Steve Acerson have been active in the preservation and protection of cultural sites with the Utah Rock Art Research Association (URARA) for the last 14 years. Diana is a conservationist and artist, and Steven has been interested in rock art sites since he was raised in Green River, after his father moved the family there to help his grandfather mine for uranium.
Many decades of exploring the region have given them a love of the landscape and the peoples who once lived here. Diana and Steve have been active in many projects with URARA, land managers, and private landowners that have resulted in the preservation of important rock art sites. They are passionate about building public awareness to preserve these important and irreplaceable cultural resources.
Nora Noffke
Geologist, Paleontologist
Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
Old Dominion University
Dr. Nora Noffke is a sedimentologist who has fundamentally contributed to the scientific field of biofilms and microbial mats in clastic sedimentology.
Her research is highly interdisciplinary combining sedimentology with microbiology, geochemistry, paleontology and mineralogy.
Emily Lessner
Paleontologist
Emily Lestner, PhD, is the BLM Paleontologist covering Vernal, Price, Moab, Monticello, Jurassic National Monument, and Bears Ears National Monument. She earned her PhD from the University of Missouri where she studied nerves in the faces of reptiles.
She's been part of fieldwork in the Triassic-aged rocks of the Colorado Plateau for 10 years, working in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, in addition to conducting fieldwork in the Cretaceous and Paleocene of Colorado, North Dakota, and Montana.
Paul Murphey
Paleontologist, Track Specialist
Dr. Paul C. Murphey is a research associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Principal Investigator at Paleo Resource Specialists, Alaska Paleontology Program Director at the Institute for Field Research, and Science Director at the Moab Giants Museum.
His current research includes the effects of rapid global temperature increase on vertebrate communities during the Eocene, and 4D surface analysis and identification of dinosaur trackways using machine learning.
David A. Little
Exploration Geologist
W.W. Little Geological Consulting
David A. Little holds a master’s degree in geology from BYU. He did a graduate internship with ConocoPhillips then, because of his love for field work, decided to become an independent contractor with W.W. Little Geological Consulting. David’s background is primarily with ancient sedimentary systems.
Joshua Lively, PhD
Paleontologist, Curator of Paleontology
USU Prehistoric Museum | Price, Utah
Joshua Lively, PhD, is the Curator of Paleontology at the Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. He earned his master's degree from the University of Utah where he studied Cretaceous turtles, and a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin, where he focused on mosasaurs and other Cretaceous marine life.