A museum preparator handles objects from storage to display, ensuring that they are safe and secure while allowing the public to have the optimal viewing experience.

If I do my job right, no one should notice. There is a great deal of planning and teamwork with all aspects of an exhibit installation or general maintenance of the museum galleries and state historic sites. I rely on the expertise of supremely qualified experts to help in all aspects of my daily work. This is part 1 of a two-part blog to share some of those efforts.

For example, at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum, I had to protect the mastodon while contractors worked on lighting fixtures above it. A protective tarp had to be deployed easily and quickly to protect the object while the contractors worked, but also had to be stowed above the mastodon when not in use so as to not affect the viewing of the artifact. We went with the tent method, which prompted many jokes, some of the best being: “He is the worst at hide and seek,” “He is cold,” or “He had fleas and we were fumigating.” So many jokers!

The video below shows the task of taking the mastodon off display in the old gallery, putting it in the Governors Gallery for storage while the State Museum expansion was completed, and then installing it in the current location. Needless to say, I didn’t want to take it completely apart to move it again. This video shows the solution. We built a gantry on wheels, attached the mastodon, and took him for a ride…easy-peasy!

I research small fossil teeth; VERY small fossil teeth. At times these fossil teeth can be submillimeter in size. While a benefit of this is that they do not take up much storage space, one downside is that they can be somewhat difficult to see and study. As I discussed in a previous blog post sometimes it is difficult to even find them in the first place. An obvious solution to the problem of studying these tiny teeth is the microscope. However, there are still problems with viewing teeth of this micro size. Often when looking at these teeth through the microscope, not all of the tooth will be in focus at once due to the narrow focal point. This makes studying these small teeth difficult, as a researcher can only view a small portion of the tooth’s surface at a time. Thankfully, there is a solution to this problem.

By taking a series of photos at different “elevations” along the surface of the tooth, it is possible to create an in-focus image. This is accomplished with a computer program that seamlessly blends or “stacks” these photos together. What you wind up with is an in-focus image that is the result of combining all the focused points of each photo together. In general, the more images you take of the tooth and stack together, the better your final photo. For demonstration purposes please see figures 1-4.

Figure 1: Level “A” is the lowest in-focus slice. Note that only the metal pin (lower left) and the bubbled glue and pin head (upper right) are in focus.

Figure 2: Level “B” is the middle in-focus slice. Note that only the in color sections of the tooth are in focus.

Figure 3: Level “C” is the top in-focus slice. Note that only the in color sections of the tooth are in focus.

Figure 4: This is the final “stacked” image and is the result of putting all the other images together. Essentially, A + B + C = D. Note that now the entire tooth is in focus.