Dinosaurs and MOR! Festival

**Join us for the 4th Annual Dinosaurs and MOR! Festival, March 28-30, 2025!**

Explore the world of dinosaurs with expert presentations, family-friendly programs, and special events. Kick-off with a members-only evening featuring an exclusive mosasaur reveal. Partake in a dinner and keynote by Dr. Jingmai O'Connor, and over two days, enjoy 18 talks from top paleontologists, hands-on workshops, Jr. Paleontologist stations, and more! Do not miss a chance to dive into the prehistoric world with activities for all ages, from fossil casting to terrarium building.

Special thanks to Lead Sponsor Oakland and Company!

Dinosaurs and MOR! Kicks Off with a Member-only Appreciation Night

Friday, March 28, 2025
5:30 – 8 p.m.
For MOR Members Only
Light refreshments are provided in the downstairs lobby

Join us for a special evening dedicated to MOR members to kick off the 4th annual Dinosaurs and MOR! Festival. Start with fun and engaging Paleo Passport stations to collect passport stamps at all stations to receive a Jr. Paleontologist Certificate signed by MOR's Dr. John Scannella. For those aged 10+, watch two showings of Dinosaurs: A Story of Survival in the Taylor Planetarium.

Enjoy a book signing with festival VIP Dr. Jingmai O'Connor, paleontologist and author of When Dinosaurs Conquered the Skies, and author and illustrator Ted Rechlin.

Join in on a special Hager Auditorium presentation by paleontologist Evan Sonnenberg of Triebold Paleontology to learn about 3D scanning and printing. In an exclusive members-only reveal, Evan will unveil a rare mosasaur, Plioplatecarpus peckensis.

Many of the weekend’s world-class paleontology guest speakers will be present to meet.

5:30 p.m. | Welcome and museum front doors open
5:45 and 6:30 p.m. | Dino-themed planetarium show
7 p.m. | Special Presentation in the Hager Auditorium

Paleo Passport Station participants may include:

MSU’s Dead Lizard Society
MOR’s Paleohistology Department
Montana Dinosaur Trail
Carter County Museum (Ekalaka) (MOR's Sister Museum)
Montana Dinosaur Center (Bynum)
Montana Bureau of Land Management
Kathryn Abbott - Science Educator
Idaho Museum of Natural History
Makoshika State Park
Rudyard Depot Museum
MOR's Paleontology Collections Department

Collect passport stamps at all stations to receive a Jr. Paleontologist Certificate signed by MOR's Dr. John Scannella upon completion.

DINNER and KEYNOTE with Dr. JINGMAI O’CONNOR

Saturday, March 29, 2025
6:30 p.m.
Inspiration Hall inside MSU's Norm Asbjornson Hall
RSVP is required via this link

Member: $50/youth, $65/adult
Non-member: $60/youth, $75/adult
MSU Student: $50/student

Step back in time for an unforgettable Dinosaurs and MOR! evening with Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, paleontologist, author, and Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at Chicago's Field Museum. Join us for a delicious buffet dinner and enjoy her captivating talk, "Archaeopteryx - The Icon of Evolution." Discover the secrets of this legendary fossil and its role in revealing the connection between dinosaurs and modern birds. There will be a fundraising live auction and special appeal to support the museum's paleontology mission.

Reserve your seat now for a night of discovery, wonder, and inspiration!

Inspiration Hall is in Norm Asbjornson Hall at the intersection of W. Grant and S. 7th. Avenue. Paid parking is available in the attached parking garage.

Virtual Fossil Friday

Friday, March 28, 2025
9 - 9:30 a.m.
Free and open to the public
Via Zoom

Love fossils? We do, too! Join Outreach Program Manager Ashley Hall via Zoom on Fridays to dig deep into the evolutionary history of fantastic fossil specimens, hear from a diverse array of paleontologists from across the world, and learn how fossils help us understand the larger picture of life on Earth. Bring your curiosity and questions! This program is geared towards K-12 classes, homeschoolers, and the public.

All Access Paleo Lecture Series

Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, 2025
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Museum General Admission Included
Hager Auditorium

Click to Purchase the 1-Day Pass for Saturday

Click to Purchase the 1-Day Pass for Sunday

Member: $40/youth, $50/adult
Non-Member: $55/youth, $65/adult
MSU Student: $40/student

Click to purchase the 2-Day Pass

Member: $70/youth, $85/adult
Non-Member: $80/youth, $100/adult
MSU Student: $70/student

Over two days, 18 renowned paleontologists will present on topics ranging from trilobites to T. rex to Sabre-toothed cats! Each presentation will be 30 minutes long with a Q and A, making it an informative and engaging experience for all attendees. The speakers are subject to change without notice.

Throughout the weekend, there will be multiple opportunities to get books signed, bid on paleontology-themed collectibles, fossil casts, unique pieces of paleoart, and more!

Please see below for the 2025 Dinosaurs and MOR! All Access Paleo Lecture Series Speakers.

Family Weekend

Saturday and Sunday, March 29 - 30, 2025
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. | All Ages
Included with membership/admission

Enjoy paleo-passport activity stations throughout the Siebel Dinosaur Complex and view Dinosaurs: A Story of Survival in the Taylor Planetarium. Some passport stations will have touchable material, microscope stations, and short activities. Step into the world of SUE: The T. rex Experience to uncover the mysteries about the life of this fearsome fossil.

Paleo Passport Station participants may include:

MSU’s Dead Lizard Society
MOR’s Paleohistology Department
Montana Dinosaur Trail
Carter County Museum (Ekalaka) (MOR's Sister Museum)
Montana Dinosaur Center (Bynum)
Montana Bureau of Land Management
Kathryn Abbott - Science Educator
Idaho Museum of Natural History
Makoshika State Park
Rudyard Depot Museum
MOR's Paleontology Collections Department

Collect passport stamps at all stations to receive a Jr. Paleontologist Certificate signed by MOR's Dr. John Scannella upon completion.

Saturday, March 29 Speaker Schedule

8:45 – 9:20 a.m. | Check-in/Hager Auditorium Opens

9:20 – 9:30 a.m. | Opening Remarks by Scott Williams and Dr. John B. Scanella

9:30 – 10 a.m. | Dr. Kat Jordan-Burmeister, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, The Long Death: How We Understand ‘Dead Clades Walking’ with Proetide Trilobites

10 – 10:30 a.m. | Dr. Christian Sidor, Professor of Biology, University of Washington, Antarctica Before Dinosaurs: Triassic Fossils from the Bottom of the World

10:30 – 11 a.m. | Break

11 – 11:30 a.m. | Dr. Kimi Chappelle, Assistant Professor, Stonybrook University, Jurassic Start: Getting To Know Some of the World's Oldest Dinosaur Eggs and Babies

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Panel Discussion with Ashley Hall (MOR), Kathryn Abbott, Kallie Moore (UM), Ted Rechlin, and David Strassman (moderator), Claws, Chaos, and Cinema: The Science vs. Fiction of Jurassic Park

12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch Break

1:30 – 2 p.m. | Dr. Mark Goodwin, University of California-Berkeley, Understanding Pachycephalosaurs: An Inside Look at “Dome-Headed” Dinosaurs

2 – 2:30 p.m. | Dr. Cathy Whitlock, Regents Professor Emerita, Montana State University, Paleoecology, Climate Change, and Yellowstone

2:30 – 3 p.m. | Break

3 – 3:30 p.m. | Dr. Sabre Moore, Executive Director, Carter County Museum, The Little Museum that Big Museums Visit: Carter County Museum as a Rural Epicenter of Paleontology and Citizen Science

3:30 – 4 p.m. | Greg Liggett, Bureau of Land Management, Billings, MT, The Role and Significance of Federal Lands in the Field of Paleontology

4 – 4:30 p.m. | Dr. Paige Madison, Paleoanthropologist, Science Writer, The Real Middle Earth: How Fossil Hobbits Revised the Human Story

4:30 – 5:30 p.m. | Mesozoic Mixer in the Lower Lobby. The public is welcome to Meet and Mingle with your favorite paleontologists after a great day of presentations. There will be light refreshments and a cash bar.

Sunday, March 30 Speaker Schedule

8:45 – 9:20 a.m. | Check-in/Hager Auditorium Opens

9:20 – 9:30 a.m. | Opening Remarks

9:30 – 10 a.m. | Dr. Randy Irmis, Curator of Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Utah, When the Rains Come Down in Gondwana: Climate Change and the Origin of Dinosaurs

10 – 10:30 a.m. | Dr. Chris Organ, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Science, Montana State University, Cretaceous Chromosomes: Unraveling the Mysteries of Dinosaur Reproduction

10:30 – 11 a.m. | Break

11 – 11:30 a.m. | Dr. Jordan Mallon, Research Scientist, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Exploits of the Sternberg Family of Dinosaur Hunters

11:30 – 12 p.m. | Dr. James Napoli, Post Doctoral Researcher, Stonybrook University, Underestimating Dinosaurs: The Paleospecies Problem

12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch

1:30 – 2 p.m. | Eric Metz, Paleontology Collections Manager-Registrar, Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University, Swimming with Snake Whales and Lizard Eels

2 – 2:30 p.m. | Dr. Sarah Keenan, Associate Professor, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Making and Breaking our Vertebrate Fossil Record: Taphonomic Insights into Bone Preservation

2:30 – 3 p.m. | Break

3 – 3:30 p.m. | Dr. Josh Bonde, Nevada State Paleontology, Nevada State Museum, Paleo-tripping across the Silver State

3:30 – 4 p.m. | Dr. Holly Woodward, Professor of Anatomy, University of Oklahoma Center for Health Studies, Stop-and-grow: Flexibility was key for Theropod Icons Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus

4 – 4:30 p.m. | Dr. Ashley Reynolds, Postdoctoral Fellow, Canadian Museum of Nature, Growing up Sabre-toothed

Dino Play Workshop (Ages 2-5)

Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, 2025
9 – 10 a.m. | Redstart Classroom
Registration is required

$15/member child, included for member caregiver
$25 non-member child, $20/non-member caregiver

Dino Play Workshop for Saturday, March 29 has SOLD OUT. Thank you!

Dino Play Workshop for Sunday, March 30 has SOLD OUT. Thank you!

Sign your child up for this exciting dinosaur-themed early learning program full of unique prehistoric crafts and activities to captivate the minds of the museum’s youngest paleontologists! Children will dig for buried fossils, work together on giant dinosaur puzzles, and create their own paleoart masterpieces to take home.

To maximize space, we ask that each family limit their adult attendance to one caregiver per child.

Capacity: 16 child participants.

NOTE: Museum general admission for non-members (typically $13/child and $20/adult) is included in workshop pricing, so we hope you will stay and spend your day exploring the museum. Upon arrival, please proceed to the Dinos and MOR! Will Call station, located in the main lobby, to check in before heading to your workshop location.

Prehistoric Palettes Workshop (Ages 6-12)

Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, 2025
11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Redstart Classroom
Registration is required

$15/member child, $25/participating member caregiver, included for non-participating member caregiver
$25/ non-member child, $30/participating non-member caregiver; $20/non-participating non-member caregiver

Click to purchase tickets for March 30

Explore the prehistoric giants that roamed Montana millions of years ago! Customize your very own glass of paleo punch and follow our simple instructions to complete a sauropod masterpiece.

Children may be dropped off after being signed into the class by caregivers, or they may be accompanied during the class by a caregiver who has paid general admission.

Capacity: 20 participants.

DIY Dinosaur Terrarium Workshop (Ages 13+)

Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, 2025
1 – 3 p.m. | Redstart Classroom
Registration is required
$30/member, $45/non-member

Click to purchase tickets for March 29

Click to purchase tickets for March 30

Get ready for a hands-on adventure where all ages 13+ can become junior paleontologists and gardeners! In this interactive program, they will create a dinosaur terrarium by choosing plants, rocks, and tiny dinosaurs like T. rex and Triceratops. Along the way, they will learn about the Cretaceous period and how plants, rocks, and terrain shaped the world of dinosaurs. Once finished, they will take home their unique terrarium, an imaginative and educational piece of art!

Capacity: 25 participants.

Make and Take Fossil Cast Workshop (Ages 13+)

Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, 2025
3 – 4 p.m. | Redstart Classroom
Registration is required
$40/member, $55/non-member

Unleash your inner paleontologist in this hands-on workshop, choose a real fossil to mold, and create a detailed plaster cast with expert guidance. Once finished, take home a unique fossil replica as a keepsake. Whether you are a fossil enthusiast or seeking a fun, creative activity, this workshop is a great way to connect with the past in a new way. Capacity: 25 participants.

Click to purchase tickets for March 29

Click to purchase tickets for March 30