40 Under 40: Joshua Bonde, Ph.D., Curator of Paleontology, Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Joshua Bonde, Ph.D., curator of paleontology at Las Vegas Natural History Museum, is a 2020 Vegas Inc 40 Under 40 honoree.

Growing up on a 48-acre alfalfa farm in northern Nevada, Joshua Bonde got pretty good with a shovel and spool of bailing wire—skills he now uses regularly as a paleontologist.

Bonde set out from a young age to conquer the mystery of the dinosaur. “When I was 7 or 8, my parents took me and my brother to the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California in Berkeley; the museum was having an animatronic dinosaur exhibit,” Bonde said. “The life-size dinosaurs scared me, and from that moment on, I was going to figure out these dinosaurs.”

Now, Bonde oversees the largest collection of Ice Age fossils in the state of Nevada. The collection at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum has all of the significant dinosaur and dinosaur-aged fossils from the state. It is an internationally accredited meteorite repository, and it holds one of the largest archaeological collections. As museum curator, Bonde ensures that everything in these collections is preserved for future Nevadans.

Bonde was instrumental in building the only paleontology research lab in the entire state, earning the museum an American Alliance of Museums accreditation. This allowed the museum to become the regional Bureau of Land Management institution to store archaeology and paleontology specimens, as well as the storage site for Nevada State Parks and the U.S. Air Force. It’s Bonde’s most proud accomplishment. “All of these specimens record the prehistory and history of our great state—and it is a true honor to be responsible for them.”

When he’s not digging through Nevada’s prehistoric past, Bonde is going on adventures with his three daughters, Juniper, Willow and Magnolia—the future caregivers of the pet box turtles he’s had for over 30 years.

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