Are we failing the next generation of palaeontologists? The future of fieldwork [Bonus Preview]

New finds in palaeontology are dependent on people getting out in the field and digging up fossils, but are the next generation of palaeontologists getting to do that? Opportunities for fieldwork and fieldwork training have become more expensive, which means students might not be getting the training they need. What happens next? In this week's bonus episode, Susie and Rob discuss the importance of fieldwork and whether the next generation of palaeontologists are facing 'an extinction of experience'. We focus on the views of students and early career researchers and ponder what happens to palaeontology if we focus on large scale studies of existing data to the exclusion of digging up new stuff. This is a preview of the full episode available to our Patreon members https://www.patreon.com/cw/FossilFiles

The main paper discuss in this episode is "#Yourpalaeolife: Interrogating the Status of Fieldwork Among Early Career Palaeontology Researchers" by Harriett Nuttall published in Ecology and Evolution in July 2026 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.74032

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