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Mindy Householder

@mhouseholder.bsky.social

388 followers 249 following 12 posts

Fossil Preparator for the North Dakota Geological Survey. Currently working on Dakota the dinomummy.

Posts Replies Media

Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

#Fossilfriday This poor Champsosaur is suffering from pyrite oxidation.This can be devastating to a fossil specimen. I have been clearing sulfuric acid and old, poorly placed gap fillers by carefully taking this specimen a part. It’s rewarding to see its cute little face finally coming together!

Before and after image of a Champsosaur undergoing conservation for pyrite oxidation.

Close-up of an area with active pyrite oxidation

Close-up of pyrite formation on a fossil

Old gap fillers and active pyrite oxidation on a fossil

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Reposted by Mindy Householder

Clint Boyd @boydpaleo.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Not the kind of person you want to coauthor with or accept funding from...

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

For all of my fossil prep friends out there, come join us for the annual Association for Materials and Methods in Paleontology meeting right here in Bismarck on April 14-18th! Even if you just want an excuse to see Dakota the dinomummy up close! www.paleomethods.org/Annual-Meeting

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

A special Throwback Thursday! Since Jane became a holotype today, here's some old photos from 2003/2004 when I got to help prep her.

A fossil preparator stands with the cast of a dinosaur skull

A fossil preparator glues pieces of bone back together

A fossil preparator uses a pneumatic to remove rock from a fossil

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

My annual it gets cold here in North Dakota in January post. That's -20°F which is about -28°C which is not as cold as I've seen it here in the past.

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

O dinosaur tree, O dinosaur tree. How lovely are thy teeth.

Christmas tree with plastic dinosaur lights.

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Reposted by Mindy Householder

Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Oh no! Paleontologizing caught @boydpaleo.bsky.social, @mhouseholder.bsky.social, and me being super normal about a rotting cow on the SVP field trip. #taphonomy

Stephanie, Clint, and Mindy standing around a dead cow in a field, taking pictures

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

It was an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, yellow poka-dot rare crocy, that I prepped for the first time today. Pin-vise is at 1/64" size! So little!

A fossil preparator uses magnification to clean a crocdylian Fossil with a pin vise.

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Reposted by Mindy Householder

Sternberg Science Camps+ @sternbergcamps.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Curious where Sternberg Science Camps+ will be this summer? Well we’ve got a map for that! Yellow states are places we have logistics pretty much locked in for. States in gray are ones we are diligently working on for 2025 programs! We’ll be posting updates of this map as we get logistics finalized.

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

If you see this, post your bird art 🐦‍⬛🪶🎨

An ink drawing I made of my pet Pionus senilis, Ozzie

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Growing up in Chicago and so close to the Field Museum, I always had a deep fondness for Charles R. Knight's paintings. Recently, I was given this wax model that was supposedly used as a study for the famous Fighting Laelaps painting.

Model of Laelaps in front of a print of the painting of Fighting Laelaps by Charles R. Knight.

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Mindy Householder @mhouseholder.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Hi! I’m Mindy and I’ve worked as a preparator of fossil vertebrates for 21 years. I’ve worked on all sorts of projects both large and microscopic. Most of my current work is on fossilized skin from Dakota the #dinomummy.

The right arm of an edmontosaurus with preserved skin and keratin

Me using an airscribe to remove matrix from the hand of an edmontosaurus mummy.

Me holding the prepared skull of Hoplophoneus from Badlands National Park

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Reposted by Mindy Householder

Clint Boyd @boydpaleo.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Sorry for the delay! Catching up on posting over a lunch break. @mhouseholder.bsky.social and I set off early this morning to run some SEM-EDS analysis on thin sections of fossilized skin from Dakota the #dinomummy at NDSU in Fargo.

Photograph of a plushie Kulindadromeus holding a take out container from Cinnabon. They are placed on the dash of a truck.

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