Former NAU dung collector has one of 'worst jobs in science'

 Former Northern Arizona University paleontologist Jim Mead has been singled out by Popular Science as having one of the 10 worst jobs in science. In their annual collection, PS described Mead's collection of 13,000 dung samples from extinct sloths to modern porcupines that are in used in a variety of research and practical studies (e.g., climate changes, animal health, environmental conditions).

The magazine reports that "the dung, collected from digs, zoos and various hikes around the world, is dried out and stored in archival-quality cardboard boxes."   [right, dinosaur coprolite from Saskatchewan.  Credit, USGS]