Wolberg, Donald Lester
Wolberg, Donald Lester (1949 -) is an American paleontologist who made important discoveries and promoted knowledge of paleontology to the public. Wolberg founded the Natural History Development Company. That company's “Dinofest” is often called “The World's Fair of Dinosaurs” and is possibly the largest exhibit of dinosaurs, bones, dinosaur eggs, minerals, and precious gems ever assembled. The exhibit includes robotic, lifelike dinosaurs, and more than 100 dinosaurs.
Wolberg was born in 1949 in the Bronx, in New York City. He studied geology at New York University and received a Ph.D. degree in geology from the University of Minnesota. He held several teaching positions, including at New Mexico Tech and Arizona State University.
Wolberg worked with federal agencies in the development and funding of scientific and environmental projects. From 1978 to 1994, he served as paleontologist with the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Eesources. Wolberg was the first to report dinosaur tracks in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico.
Also in New Mexico, Wolberg described a number of new Cretaceous mammals. He launched studies of dinosaurs in southern New Mexico that led to the discovery of Tyrannosaurus rex at Elephant Butte.
Wolberg studied fossils from many parts of the world, including South Africa, Greece, China, and Mongolia. In the United States, he worked with fossils in more than 10 states.
Wolberg has received national awards from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, and the Paleontological Society. He was secretary of the Paleontological Society from 1988 to 1994.
Wolberg cowrote Collecting the Natural World (1997), a book explaining laws and regulations related to collecting plants, animals, rocks, minerals, and fossils.