April 2, 2015
Dr. Rodney Scheetz was raised looking for dinosaurs.
“I grew up in a rock-hound family, so we’d spend weekends outside looking for bones and rocks,” he said. “When I was 12 years old, we were out rock-hounding, and I found bones of baby dinosaurs.”
Those bones connected Scheetz with renowned BYU paleontologist James Jensen, who invited Scheetz and his brother to dig dinosaurs at the Dry Mesa Quarry in Colorado during the summers.
Scheetz accepted the opportunity and started on a path to BYU where, after a few detours, he is now the curator and manager of the Museum of Paleontology. On February 6, 2015, he was presented a university service award for 10 years of service at CPMS’ annual College Awards Banquet.
He was drawn to paleontology from the time he found those first dinosaur bones, and summers working at the quarry only increased his love for the science. He also used those summers to become familiar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“It just so happened that Dr. Jensen routinely hired returned missionaries to work in the field, so many evenings were spent around a campfire talking about the gospel,” he said.
He was also taught by full-time missionaries, who would drive 35 miles across the Uncompahgre Plateau to teach Scheetz and his brother. However, Scheetz said that he would not commit to be baptized until he was sure he had a testimony.
“After high school, Dr. Jensen suggested I come to BYU because if I pursued a degree here, I’d have a job working at the museum,” he said. “So I took him up on that and applied and got accepted.”
To a young man from a very small town in Colorado who wasn’t then a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the BYU culture was different from what he was used to, and things didn’t turn out quite how he planned.
“It’s such a culture shock,” he said. “Not only is this a big city and a big school, but Mormonism was a culture shock to me. I was excited for it, but my grades were terrible.”
During his first year at BYU, he was taught more about the gospel by stake missionary Lloyd Oaks, son of Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who happened to also be a geology major. Scheetz and his brother were baptized on December 9, 1978.
Soon after, Scheetz left BYU and pursued jobs in surveying and mine claim staking for a few years. When the mine he worked at closed, he decided to come back to BYU and finish his degree.
“I came back to BYU and redeemed myself, and I got my bachelor’s degree in geology with good grades,” he said. “So it’s all in attitude, I found out.”
He then went to Montana State University, where he earned a doctoral degree in evolutionary biology. While working as a curator in western Colorado, Scheetz learned that there was an opening at BYU for a museum curator, the very job that James Jensen had when Scheetz was first at BYU. He applied immediately and got the job.
“This is my dream job,” he said. “This is the job that my mentor had.”
At the museum, Scheetz manages six to eight student employees, designs and assembles exhibits, manages collections, and goes on excursions to find and excavate bones. In other words, he lives the life his 12-year-old self probably dreamed about.
“I honestly have the best job in the world,” he said. “I honestly do. I feel sorry for everybody else. . . . My dad said, ‘Get a job where you don’t live for the weekends, but you just love the work.’ And that’s what I do. I love going to work.”
Scheetz’ appreciation for the earth and its creator grows every day as he continues to study the history of the world through dinosaurs.
“This is no fly-by-night operation,” he said. “This was a work in tremendous preparation. When you think of it like that, it brings such awe to the things that I work on. . . . It seems kind of sacred to me. It’s like touching creation.”