Already making international headlines, Mark Mitchell has been honoured for his many years of service in the fossil world.

The new species of armoured dinosaur, named ‘Borealopelta markmitchellii’, was released to the public on August 3, three months after the grand unveiling of the Grounds for Discovery exhibit in May.

The researchers of the world renowned museum had banded together and decided that Mitchell was a fitting candidate for the new fossil after his many years of preparing the specimen.

“It was pretty great, I put my hands up in the air and cheered,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell has also worked on other impressive discoveries including a shark from the Triassic period, several marine reptiles, nodosaur skulls from Dinosaur Provincial Park, and a large Eotriceratops.

New fossil discoveries can be named for many different factors. It could be based on the location it was found in, the character of the find, researchers and their contribution, or the preparer and their contributions to name a few.

“Having something named after somebody is a big honour,” Mitchell noted.

The overall preparation of the animal took approximately five years and 7,000 hours.

“It was a very challenging specimen to work on,” continued Mitchell. “The rock was very hard and the bone, for the most part, was pretty soft, pretty chalky so it was quite difficult – but in the end, it was all worth while.”

Nodosaur is the family name of the armoured dinosaur. With two families of armoured dinosaurs; calisaurids and nodosaurids, the biggest differentiation between them is that the calisaurids have tail clubs.

The specimen found that Mitchell worked on was in the nodosaurid family but with the new species name of ‘Borealopelta markmitchellii.’

The fossil preparation technician originated from Saskatoon before pursuing post secondary education at the University of

Alberta in the early 90’s. Afterwards, Mitchell landed a job at the Tyrrell in 1996.

“It took me many years of applying to get in,” said Mitchell. “Luck and timing have a lot to do with it.”

The experienced tech is now working on a Plesiosaur from a separate mine in Fort McMurray.

When the Grounds for Discovery exhibit was released to the public in May, it created worldwide headlines. The extremely rare find was made at the Suncor Energy Millennium Mine north of Fort McMurray in March 2011, dubbed as the remains of the best-preserved armoured dinosaur in the world.

“When this amazing dinosaur went on display at the museum this past May as part of the Grounds for Discovery exhibit, it received international attention from premier publications such as National Geographic, the New York Times, Sky News Australia, Forbes, the Guardian and CNN,” Alberta Minister of Tourism and Culture Richardo Miranda stated.

Dinosaur fans can also now rejoice after new technology has now been released about the exhibit.

“In addition, this project has been well documented in National Geographic with an interactive 3D model of the dinosaur, both how it looked and lived in its day, and how it came to be fossilized for millions of years before its discovery. That coverage continues with a new online interactive graphic that explains the dinosaur’s fossilization,” said Minister Miranda.

Sorenson will be through the Valley to meet with constituents on August 16 to update them on what has been happening and also to learn what their concerns are.

“It gives people a chance to come forward and bring issues in,” said Sorenson. “I’ll speak for a few minutes and talk about what I have done for the summer and what we are preparing to bring in the fall and kind of get a sense of where people are and the issues that they think are the most important.”

He says many concerns he hears aren’t necessarily on the national stage but the province.

“The economy is always the toughest thing. Looking at some of the job numbers in Alberta, we see some marginal gains, and then some losses. Though there is a recovery in the United States and Canada is tagged along on that recovery, we are seeing some growth in the economy, but it hasn’t been in Alberta to any degree,” he said.

This includes trade issues, including the US not signing on to Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership for agriculture is massive. Whether the Americans go along with it or not, it still gives us preferred access into some of these Asian countries where there is an appetite for our food and some of our cereal grains and Canola, and lentils,” he said. “ So what are we doing? Are we cutting back on any trade agreements now? Are we just focusing on NAFTA as a country? Does Trudeau have any idea what he is up against when he is going up against on trade issues?”

He said he is pleased that the government has brought in former cabinet ministers MPs Rona Ambrose and James Moore to assist with trade.

“But what leadership do we have and do constituents understand the significance for them on their farm, or the agricultural spinoff companies… it is very important we see some of these things happening,” he said.

Another big change for the party is its leadership. He said Andrew Scheer is getting a positive response.

“I am excited, he is getting a good reception from Prince Edward Island, and he has been out in B.C. with the fires and working alongside some of the people out there,” said Sorenson. “I’m pleased with that. I am pleased he is taking his family with him for a lot of the tour and they are making a good connection with Canadians as well. As people get to know him better they are going to like him and I know his abilities.”

He is sure the topic of provincial politics will come up.

“There are some big things happening in the province with the two parties coming together, everyone is focusing on the leadership and the trials in Alberta, but when we get back to Ottawa we want to know where constituents stand on some of the other issues as well.”