Celebrities join hunt at dino dig

From the Edmonton Journal: Celebrities join hunt at dino dig

Philip Currie is a man perfectly at home on the side of a steep and muddy hill in the pouring rain, with 73-million-year-old dinosaur bones beneath his feet and a cadre of celebrity guests arriving in a matter of hours.

"Anyone who thinks paleontology is a dry and boring subject, they should take a look again, because it's definitely not boring," the renowned Alberta paleontologist said with a laugh Thursday as he attempted to secure a large tarp along the side of a fossil site outside Grande Prairie in mud he rightly described as "as slick as oil." Indeed.

Once the inspiration for a character in the movie Jurassic Park, Currie is the namesake of a new museum being created at the renowned Pipestone Creek fossil site, an area considered to be one of the world's richest dinosaur bonebeds.

The project found unexpected allies last summer after catching the attention of actors Dan Aykroyd and his wife, Donna Dixon Aykroyd, when the family visited the area.

On Thursday, the couple flew a group of their celebrity friends to the Pipestone Creek site for a threeday dinosaur dig.

That will be followed by a gala fundraiser Saturday night that will help secure the remaining funding required to build the $26.4million museum.

The diverse group of guests at the event includes Robert Kennedy Jr., Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, Roots Canada founder Michael Budman, Criminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler and mystery writer Patricia Cornwell.

Taking a break from digging dinosaur bones to get the site ready for the celebrities, Currie said he was humbled to host the high-profile guests.

"It's pretty amazing to think that they would come all the way up to Alberta when I'm sure there are other places they could be that would be the envy of everybody," he said.

It will certainly be a rustic experience for the guests, whose arrival was delayed by small funnel clouds in the area and a tornado watch, and who will now face the rain, mud and mosquitoes during their dinosaur digs.

The celebrities are staying in trailers at a scenic forest campsite, along with Currie and other paleontologists and laboratory technicians working on the Pipestone Creek site.

RCMP officers and an ambulance are also stationed at the site while the guests are in the area.

The guests were slated to have a fireside talk with Currie on Thursday night, and are expected to be out at the two excavation sites Friday. One site is only accessible by a 15-minute hike into the forest. The other can be reached only by jet boat.

With the remains of hundreds of dinosaurs, the Pipestone Creek site west of Grande Prairie has the densest deposit of horned dinosaur remains in the world. Most in the bone bed are from the Pachyrhinosaurus, but there are signs of other species, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, in the area as well.

Phil Bell, a paleontologist for the Pipestone Creek site, said he hopes the guests will bring new excitement to the area sometimes dubbed the River of Death.

"To bring people in of this calibre is a fantastic opportunity to advertise what paleontology is in this region," he said. "Bringing in these guests will raise awareness more than we could perhaps do in a lifetime."

Currie said he, too, was thrilled to have the high-profile guests at the site, in large part because he knows they will bring attention to the bonebed, the museum and paleontology.

He said he hopes increased attention to the site will also mean the area will continue to be studied for years.

"I think it's getting what it deserves now," he said. "We always knew that this was a very special site."

Although most of his excitement is reserved for the Pachyrhinosaurus, Currie said he was particularly excited to meet Dan Aykroyd.

"I am a big fan of The Blues Brothers and especially Ghostbusters," he said.

"It's pretty amazing we're going to be in the same room, never mind the same campground."