Bretton Carter
He/Him
I am gay and I am an ichnologist/paleontologist.//
My name is Bretton and I am a gay Ichnologist which a paleontologist who studies trace fossils, such as Dinosaur footprints! Dinosaur footprints are actually my specialty of study, as well as other trace fossils from the Mesozoic era. I got my formal education between Amherst College in Massachusetts & the University of Glasgow. In 2017 I was part of a team that discovered the first fossil dinosaur footprints in mainland Scotland as they were previously only known to exist on The Isle or Skye! More recently I lead a successful campaign in Massachusetts to make Paleontology a required topic in science classes in the grades of 4, 6, 8, & 10th Grade Earth Sciences. When I taught High School Earth Sciences, Paleontology & the Geological Timeline weren’t even a required topic within the curriculum which I found baffling! Not only is it a fun topic that gets kids interested in the sciences, but it’s a necessary key to understand how the Earth works!
These days I spend my time really trying to bring the world of Paleontology & Geology/Rockhounding to Queer Spaces. Truthfully the Earth Science crowd is a pretty conservative one, and there isn’t much diversity. I really hope to be a part in trying to change that by inspiring others within the LGBTQA+ community to go out, explore, learn & discover our ancient planet!