Characters
Philip J. Currie
We joined Phil on a few digs before we realized what a big deal he is. He’d hate that last sentence. Phil is one of the world’s foremost palaeontologists but he’d never say so. He’s kind and generous with his time. He is also fit! We had a hard time keeping up with someone almost twice our age.
Phil was the founding curator of the Tyrell Museum. Nowadays he is a Canada Research Chair of Dinosaur Paleobiology at the University of Alberta. But he’s also key to our story. His life intersects with Al’s time and time again. If Al’s a classic amateur rock hound, Phil’s the classic professional palaeontologist. He also has a whole museum named after him—the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum way up north in Grande Prairie Alberta. So, yeah. He’s a big deal.
Eva Koppelhus
Eva Koppelhus is a paleobotanist at the University of Alberta. But she also runs the camp and keeps everyone safe. If things are going smoothly in camp it’s because Eva’s working behind the scenes to make sure there’s water and food for everyone. Even a couple of clueless filmmakers. Eva is Phil’s partner and you just tell they are best friends. The Paleo world can be male-oriented, and a bit macho, but that’s changing and Eva’s part of that shift. She’s also a champion of paleobotany, after all no plants, no dinosaurs!
Al Lakusta
Al’s is the hero of our story. On the last long weekend of the summer in 1972 Al took his friends on a picnic along a creek in Grande Prairie. And along that hike he stumbled upon bones in the water. Being a high school science teacher he recognized them as fossils. He didn’t know it at the time but he had just found the largest and densest bonebed in the world. His story takes all kinds of twists and turns. As an amateur he was shut down and humiliated. We don’t want to spoil the ending but let’s just say there’s an annual Al Lakusta Day in Grande Prairie!
Darren Tanke
Darren Tanke is a Senior Technician at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller Alberta. Al told us about Darren. In fact he insisted we meet him. Al calls him the real hero of the story. Without Darren Al’s fossils were headed to the trash. Without Darren Al would be a minor footnote, or even forgotten altogether. Darren’s the real deal. We were lucky to have Darren guide us around the vast Tyrell’s archives and tell us the real story behind Al’s discovery.