HIGHLIGHTS OF RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• In 1997 Keith Cowley’s knowledge base of geology and fossils, including his sizable collection found during family vacations, led him to be given the opportunity to teach the paleontology unit to his Earth Science classmates at Wheeler High School, boosting his confidence while developing public speaking skills.

• In 1998 Keith Cowley figured out a safe areas to dive in Cape Hatteras and surrounding areas during hurricane season and recovered prehistoric marine mammal and shark fossil material. He also began regular trips to Calvert County Maryland exploring and diving the 30 miles of fossiliferous cliffs and the Potomac, finding his first Maryland megalodon teeth.

• In 1999 he joined a group of researchers from Yale with the introduction by a Wethersfield science teacher Bill Martha. The group was studying the history of ichnology sites and their modern day accessibility in Connecticut and Massachusetts through the use of 1800’s documentation of localities cited by the discoverer of dinosaur “footmarks” himself, Edward Hitchcock. In addition to finding new micaceous sandstone tracks in the field, they would also uncover early Triassic shale fish beds in the gorges of some remote locations.

• In 1999 Cowley learned fossil preparation techniques and began building on them. He took a job with the World of Science identifying, preparing and illustrating fossil specimens for the retail environment. He also began taking private clients, taking science art commissions and preparing fossils for exhibition.

• In January 2001 Cowley was hired to co-develop a paleontological museum within an educational retail environment called Nature’s Art. The owners had just erected the new building on their earth products quarry property and were making final decisions on the layout. Cowley laid out the areas for exhibition, designed educational signage, and assisted in the rigging of full scale dinosaur and marine reptile castings selected from Triebold Paleontology. He would go on to maintain, repair and prepare fossil material for exhibition and retail, including selecting new acquisitions on trips to Tucson Rock Mineral & Fossil Show in Arizona.

• In 2001 Keith Cowley assisted the team again from Triebold Paleontology with the installation of their traveling exhibition Savage Ancient Seas at Mystic Aquarium. This gave him further insight into cohesive branding, interpretive design and rigging of installations museum settings.

• From 2002-2013, Cowley would take regular trips around the country fueled by contract work as an exhibit designer, graphic artist and fossil preparator while searching for prehistoric shark localities. He was a regular at Calvert Marine Museum, and the Mesa Museum in Phoenix, and could be found up and down the east coast diving the Cooper and Peace Rivers, and other inland sites in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. Out west he took part in digs and frequented marine fossil sites in Kansas, Indiana, Utah, Montana, California, Texas, and New Mexico.

• In 2003 Keith Cowley began consulting and illustrating on a series of children’s books called Shoestrings, written by John Sciarra, the first curator of exhibits and husbandry at Mystic Aquarium. Together they taught educational programs based on his books featuring dinosaurs and fossils all over New England.

• In 2004 Cowley designed and co-directed the creation of over two dozen full scale dinosaur sculptures for installation along a mile’s worth of trails behind the Nature’s Art property back in Connecticut, developing all the accompanying signage and layout. He also helped design geology activties in the form of a giant indoor cave system, gold panning sluiceway and two sets of desert fossil beds, along with educational programming and lesson plans.

• In 2014 Cowley gained opportunity to do contract work for NOAA fisheries, finally bridging into work with modern (living) sharks. He continues to study and educate the public about prehistoric sharks, while still taking trips to collect and research marine fossil material when he can. He has taught about fossil sharks for Jacksonville University, Boston Sea Rovers, SharkCon and a variety of area schools.

• In 2020 Keith Cowley came on board working under Steve Alten, author of the New York Time’s Bestselling MEG series, as Technical Advisor, Creature Concept Artist and Education Director: designing in part and consulting on all prehistoric and biological science details/continuity associated with the web series (Where Sea Monsters Roam) and interactive aquarium web experience Sea Monster Cove at Maug Island.