Andrea Quintanilla grew up in the east bay of Northern California and came to UO in 2017 for an undergraduate degree.  Mentors Dr. Stephen Frost and Dr. Francis White influenced Andrea's interest in the natural world and our place in it, as well as her curiosity for museum specimen care and bone preparation for curation. She spent many hours cataloguing specimens and degreasing bones in the Primate Osteology Lab, as well as the Geometric Morphometrics Lab, learning how to use statistical software to analyze data on a 3-dimenmtional scale. After earning a BA in 2021, with a triple concentration in Biological Anthropology, Archeology and Cultural Anthropology, (but mostly focused on Primatology), Dr. White referred Andrea to Dr. Edward Davis to help out with skeletonizing animal specimens for the paleontology lab's comparative teaching collection. There, she started work as a temporary lab technician, and learned how to prepare fossil specimens in the fossil prep lab. After almost 3 years working and managing the lab with Dr. Davis and Dr. Samantha Hopkins's help, she decided to pursue a Master of Science Degree in Earth Science, specifically studying and documenting her preparation of a Miocene baleen whale fossil, named "Wally", who was found on the Oregon Coast in 2006. Fossil preparation and techniques, while not a commonly talked about paleontology topic, is a vital skill that Andrea is excited to learn more about and share with others as she works under Dr. Davis's mentorship. In her free time, Andy adores painting mini figures, collecting vinyl records and working on jigsaw puzzles with her husband, who she met at UO during undergrad.