Remarks on receiving the 2024 Mary Lou and John Pojeta Award for Exceptional Professional or Public Service to Paleontology

Thanks for this wonderful award for outreach in paleobiology.I love what I do for a living: research (Figure 1), teaching, outreach, and editing.Some days I do more teaching, other days more research, and others more editing.It is a good mix for me.Every day, I feel like a little boy thinking, "Oh my God, what am I going to discover today?And what will I be able to share with others?"So, to me, work is fun.Indeed, some days, my colleagues and I have made spectacular discoveries that I eventually get to share with others.I firmly believe that everyone who wants to learn deserves to be educated.I ask my colleagues, "How many people read our technical papers?In contrast, how much greater impact on science literacy can we have when we communicate our discoveries to the public in plain language