Re: Is there still a demand for the fields of paleontology and archeology today

Is there still a demand for the fields of paleontology and archaeology 
today?

First, I need to point out that these are two very different fields of 
science. Paleontology is the study of ancient life and is typically 
considered to be a subfield of geology (a physical science). Archaeology is 
the study of past human life-ways and is typically considered to be a 
subfield of anthropology (a social science). Although the two fields seem 
to share similar methods (they both dig things out of the ground) this 
appearance accounts for very little of what they actually do. Specialists 
in these two fields ask very different types of research questions and 
frequently have very little in common. A paleontologist may look at fossil 
microbes and seek questions about the origins of life on earth. The 
archaeologist may look at the contents of a garbage dump from a 19th 
century farmhouse and ask what did these people make at home versus what 
did they have to buy from a store. These are extreme examples, but they 
show that what most paleontologist and archaeologists do have very little 
in common. In fact, the main thing that they have in common is that they 
each hate being confused with the other by the general public. How to annoy 
an archaeologist? Call him a paleontologist and ask him questions about 
dinosaurs. How to annoy a paleontologist? Call her an archaeologist and ask 
her questions about dinosaurs (which is properly a field of paleontology, 
but not an interest for most paleontologists).
There is, however, a very specialized area of overlap between archaeology 
and paleontology and that is the field of human evolution. Paleontologists 
approach this field as an examination of yet another animal species. 
Archaeologists look at it as the investigation of just another time period 
of human life-ways as worthy of investigation as any other. In this one 
area of investigation archaeologists and paleontologists will ask very 
similar questions and may even find themselves working side-by-side. This 
is my field, and it is called paleoanthropology or human paleontology, 
depending upon your training, biases, or which you think sounds better.
Now, is there still a demand for people in these fields? Well, there is a 
much a demand now as there every was, which is to say -- not much. It is 
very rare that a person can make a living doing just paleontology or just 
archaeology. Some paleontologist work for oil companies, or the like, and 
work to find fossil fuels. This is still paleontology, and probably 
describes the best paying aspect of this field, but I suspect that this is 
not what you had in mind. Similarly, there is contract archaeology, which 
looks for archaeological sites that might be damaged due to a federally 
funded construction projects. This type of archaeology rarely results in 
full fledged excavations and so rarely makes claims to important 
discoveries. Although contract archaeology does employ a number of people, 
unless you are the boss, it is usually seasonal work. In any case, the pay 
scale is not very high.
So, what do people with this training do? Usually they teach. I, for 
example, teach human anatomy. I need to know about anatomy to interpret the 
human fossils, so that gives me a marketable skill. In the past, I have 
used the other skills I gained in becoming a paleoanthropologist in order 
to earn a living. I have worked as a statistician, a computer operator and 
as a contract archaeologist. 
The main thing to remember is that you go into a scientific fields because 
you have a strong desire to learn and to find the answers to questions 
people haven't even thought of yet. It takes a lot of training and time 
commitment. In terms of dollars, you could almost always make more money 
doing something else with much less time and effort. But, if you apply 
yourself, you can make a living wage doing what you love.