Sara Olson

Welcome! I am a geoscientist, paleontologist, and educator who loves GIS and learning.

Skills & Fieldwork

Beautiful mud cracks during a watershed delineation survey that I completed for LA DWP.
View in Utah during a week-long dinosaur dig expedition with Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum.

GIS

My GIS skills have been vital to my geologic and paleontologic experiences. 

I completed the UCLA Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geospatial Technology certificate, a 5-course online program for working professionals to complement geoscience education and experience. I am proficient in both ArcGIS Pro Suite and QGIS.

An ArcGIS StoryMap of Hiking Lower Peters Canyon I created.
A QGIS map of California Badlands I created

Software Proficiency

A SkatchFab 3D photogrammetry model of a mineral specimen created by Sara for CSULB.
A SkatchFab 3D photogrammetry model of a mineral specimen created by Sara for CSULB.

Fieldwork and Skills

Shark teeth and temporary access badge at San Diego Natural History Museum during a research visit.
Therapod femur from the Upper Jurassic, found by Sara during a dinosaur dig in Utah with a Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum expedition.

As an avid hiker and naturally curious person, I decided to pursue an education in geology. 

I was a non-traditional student because I returned to college after a decade-plus successful graphic design and marketing career. I spent years working during the day as a graphic designer and in the evening as a student to fulfill the demanding prerequisites of a geology degree.

Now, I find my previous graphic design skills complementary to my geoscience career.

I was in the field during paleontology monitoring for laying fiber optics cables off I-395.
Me with Otodus megalodon at the American Museum of Natural History on a research trip.

Research Topics

Ammonoid cephalopod Craspedites fossil from the Upper Jurassic, Tithonian Stage, data used in the published paper "Ontogenetic Trends of Sutural Complexity in Jurassic Ammonites."
Me collecting data from fossils for my published paper "Stasis in Neophrontops americanus (Egyptian vultures) from La Brea tar pits during the last glacial-interglacial cycle."