Fossil studies begin with a classroom lesson at Sandy Hook and the identification of archived specimens. Some specimens are collected on the beach at Sandy Hook, others from inland sites. Many examples are visible in the building stone (Indiana limestone, below), like these Bryozoans at the Ocean Institute world headquarters at Ft. Hancock.

Sometimes called Indian paint-pots, limonite casings are a type of bog iron and may have formed around plant roots or the burrows of shrimp and other creatures (above left).

Limestone building material at Fort Hancock has numerous fossils. Most of them are from ancient inland seas and deltas similar to structures like the Mississippi delta. Bryozoans (upper right), tubes (right) and foraminifera and shell material from a tropical beach (lower left).

Field work includes lessons about flood plains and wetlands and their inhabitants, like ferns and liverworts (above), and riparian vegetation like walnuts (left), which are sometimes mistaken for fossils after they've been buried in the anaerobic (Oxygen-poor) mud.

We let nature do the excavating and only collect fossils from creek beds, never when they are still embedded in the substrate (below left) near the K-T Boundary.

At the end of the day the sand and gravel of the creek yields an excellent assortment of fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period.

(Above) Checking out a concentration of fossils at the infamous K-T Boundary. As tempting as it is to dig in the stream banks, we let Nature do the work and only sift gravel from the creek bed.

Bird bones are probably much more recent than they look but are exciting finds nonetheless (right).

Belemnites (below left) and shark and other fish teeth (Below, right) like stingrays are unmistakable.