David Choquehuanca Céspedes, vice president of Bolivia, visited the Geoscience Research Institute’s (GRI) spectacular dinosaur research site in Bolivia on March 22, 2022. Dr. Raúl Esperante, a senior scientist at GRI, leads the research group at the site in Carreras Pampa, near the town of Torotoro. This site contains what appears to be a world-record number of dinosaur trackways, along with other mysterious markings interpreted as tail drag impressions made by the animals as they walked. Dr. Esperante is working with Loma Linda University graduate students and local researchers, as well as investigators from other South American countries.

“We gave the vice president and the group accompanying him, including Teodoreo Mamani, Bolivian National Park service director, a 30-minute field presentation on the tracks and other features,” reported Dr. Esperante. “Both gentlemen were particularly interested in how the sites can be best preserved, and we discussed what has been done in other countries, including the United States, Spain, and Italy. We also offered help in preparing signage and posters with explanations and descriptions for visitors to the site.” 

The vice president was also interested in the training of Bolivian researchers, and the best way to do this is through collaboration. GRI is also interested in assisting in the development of new resources that contribute to the economic growth of communities and ensuring that Adventist researchers are mentored so they can professionally investigate the fascinating evidence that sites like this provide about the past. Because of this, the current research group includes two young Adventist Bolivian geologists, Helen Baltazar and Ángela Limachi. Ana Varquero is a local tourist guide who is a field assistant, and Dr. Esperante works closely with National Park Service employees so everyone benefits as much as possible from the expertise GRI brings to sites like the one at Carreras Pampa.

As active contributors to the community of researchers at Loma Linda University, GRI scientists work closely with the Department of Earth and Biological Sciences, both teaching classes and mentoring graduate students. One of those students working on this project is Jeremy McLarty, who already has a masters degree from Andrews University. “Studying dinosaur tracks in Bolivia has been an amazing opportunity for me,” says McLarty. “We have found things here that appear to be unique in the world.” 

However, doing research is pointless if it isn’t shared, and this is a high priority with this particular group, but it isn’t every day that the graduate students mentored by GRI scientists have the opportunity to share what they are doing with a country’s vice president. McLarty put it this way: “Sharing some of the things we’ve found at our work site with the vice president and other visiting officials was an exciting experience, not only for our group, but also for the local park rangers.”

The GRI, located in Loma Linda, California, USA, is an institute of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists dedicated to the study of issues related to science and faith. Why invest in studying dinosaur trackways in Bolivia? According to Dr. Ronny Nalin, GRI director, “There are profoundly different views of what happened in the past, and some interpret the evidence currently available in ways that contradict the record of history found in Scripture. GRI is interested in this research because it teaches us much about the primary evidence from the fossil record and the principles of interpretation that lead to various conclusions. By evaluating the evidence and the hermeneutic used, we are in a much better position to understand why those with whom we disagree see things differently, and [this] also puts us and thus also the church in a much better position to offer alternative and well-researched explanations.”