James Martz

Team Member Profile
Responsibility	Assistant Manager of Fossils Galore and World Fossil Forum.
Location	I live in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, USA during college semesters, and stay in Clarion, Pennsylvania, USA during breaks
Qualifications	High School Diploma, Undergraduate Research at Penn State DuBois, Student
Birth Year	1988
Interests	well, fossils, obviously… I also enjoy all of the sciences, politics, meteorites, well… almost everything... The natural world.
Quote	But there are so many! “Little by little, one travels far.” J.R.R. Tolkien
Occupation	Material Engineering Research Assistant/Student
Favourite Geological Strata	Chesapeake Group of Miocene
Favourite Fossil Tool	My geological hammer (thanks Stacie!)
Picture of Favourite Fossil	Although I don't have a favourite fossil, I wanted to choose one that was fairly unique as fossils go. This particular fossil is an NWA 2965 EL 3 Enstatite Chondrite Paleometeorite. In other words, a fossilized meteorite from North West Africa...

I don’t remember how young I was, when I found my first fossil. Walking to school, with my mother, I noticed a small sparkle on the side of the road. I picked up the small glistening rock with the excitement of any imaginative child in the presence of a crystal. I took it home, later finding out what I had found was a trilobite, a small insect like marine creature. The idea that the rock I had found contained the remnants of a several million year old animal sparked an interest that would live on, even though it would be several years before I would find my next fossil.

The dormant fire burned silently, and midway through the fourth grade I moved from my California birthplace to Pennsylvania with my mom and step dad. Everything was different, by the time I got to my new home a fresh layer of snow, which I’d rarely ever seen, covered the ground. Winter soon ended, and it was time for another hobby of mine; Fishing! On one of my first fishing trips in Pennsylvania, I found a mysterious object in the rocks. Something that my step dad and I had concluded was a giant fossilized worm. I took a few of them home, and a few years later discovered they were crinoid stems, pieces of an echinoderm which still lives today.

Early in high school, I was lucky enough to have an ex-paleontologist as a student teacher. He loved the job, but quit because he couldn’t make enough money in it. I imagine he enjoyed teaching, too. I asked him where his favourite fossil hunting site was, in hopes that one day I could hunt the same grounds. Find something different than the few crinoid stems I had found in Pennsylvania. He never told me what his favourite site was, but he did tell me that he thought that the Calvert Cliffs, Maryland would be an excellent site for someone my age, who would probably had became bored if a few hours work didn’t provide any finds. He told me tales of a shark tooth in every hand full of sand. I wrote down the name, Calvert Cliffs, on a piece of standard school notebook paper, which I ripped out and saved. I asked my mom if we could go, she said maybe some day, but not this year. I asked a few more times, but eventually forgot completely.

Fossiling was slow again. I found a few more things, which were clearly wood, and unidentifiable plant matter. (Looking through some of my older collection I’ve been able to label some as Lepidodendron, Stigmaria, and Calamites, but back then it was all just wood.)

While throwing out some of my old school notes, which for some reason I’d decided were important to keep, I stumbled across a torn sheet of paper. Recycled paper, it had that dark tinge to it that made the writing barely stand out, along with a slightly waxy reflection. The kind of paper office stores couldn’t give away. Two words written in ordinary pencil, nearly faded beyond any recognition read “Calvert Cliffs.” I couldn’t remember where it was, or why I’d written it down. Maybe it was a location in one of my several unfinished novels? I saved it, while the rest of the papers were burnt. A few months later, I remembered what the Calvert Cliffs were. I asked to go, and we decided to stop there on the way to Virginia, after some brief research. The tide was high, the sky cloudy, and the parking spaces sparse, but it still managed to be the best fossil hunting trip I’d ever encountered, taking home countless treasures to my growing collection.

After the cliffs, my fascination with fossils was larger than ever, and I’d decided to do some more hunting around my house. Since then, I’ve grown quite the collection of Carboniferous plants and sea creatures, some of which may be Devonian. I’ve had the opportunity to write for Fossils Galore Magazine, and join the staff of the World Fossil Forum, where I have met many new friends, across the world, and gained a general knowledge of several types of fossils of various ages and stratum. With the end of winter near, I intend to be back into the full swing of regular fossil hunts soon. I can only hope the next couple of years will be as exciting as the last few!

James Martz