Juliet Hook

As Collections Manager for Invertebrate Paleontology, Juliet cares for our extensive collection of fossil invertebrates, works with researchers and visitors, improves collection data and records, and leads a team of volunteers and students engaged in collection projects.

Juliet Hook holds a BS from UC Davis, where she focused her studies in Anthropology with a minor in Communications. Juliet joined the NHM Vertebrate Paleontology team part-time in February 2018 to work on a 2-year funded grant project (Bureau of Land Management Cooperative Agreement No. L17AC00191) to curate and conserve Pleistocene vertebrate fossils from Gypsum Cave, Nevada. This is a historical collection that was collected in the 1930's and notably features exceptional preservation of soft tissue, dung, and hair from the smaller species of ground sloth, Nothrotheriops shastensis.

Research

Ms. Hook acquired extensive museum and laboratory experience while an undergraduate at UC Davis, working as a research intern for the Center for Archaeological Research, the UC Davis Zooarchaeological Laboratory, the UC Davis Archaeometry Laboratory and the UC Davis Department of Anthropology Museum. During her work in these settings she developed the skills to handle museum objects with care, inventory collections, identify and catalog objects, and document materials using DSLR cameras. In October 2018, she delivered an oral presentation on the project at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meetings in Albuquerque, NM. To date she has identified over 1,000 specimens and is currently making progress on the taxonomic organization and housing before cataloging and photographing the collection.

Publications

Hook, Juliet and V. Rhue. 2018. “The Curation, Conservation, and Digitization of a Pleistocene Fauna From Gypsum Cave, Nevada, U.S.A.”.  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 150.