Exploring the striking, vast landscapes of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as a young girl, a Southern Utah University senior and budding paleontologist says the land connects the past to the present.

Madison (Madi) Syrett-Watkins talks with Host Stephanie DeGraw about how her dinosaur journey began near her hometown of Tropic, Utah. Prehistoric mysteries dotted her childhood as she and her family explored the area between the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park. She discovered her first fossil when she was 14 on Utah's public lands. 

"One of the coolest things about paleontology is how it connects the past to the present. You can see how different species adapted or didn't to environmental shifts, and that can be really important and apply to the modern day," Syrett-Watkins said. "We can use what we've learned from the past to influence the present and the future."