Paleontologist Dr. Ken Lacovara has got a new $1.95 million 65-acre classroom consisting of fossils. It has been announced by Rowan University officials that the university is acquiring a quarry owned by Inversand Company and it will be converted into a research and education lab for students.

Paleontologist Lacovara is a Mainland Regional High School graduate and spent many years gathering rocks and digging holes in Linwood. He will act as the dean of a new School of Earth and Environment and lead the study into whether fossils in the site can reveal more about the vanishing of the dinosaurs nearly 65 million years ago.

The site is an exciting opportunity for Lacovara, who has visited Argentina, Egypt, and China in relation to his research into Mesozoic Era paleo environments that consist of the remains of dinosaurs in addition to other vertebrates. He is going to leave Drexel University to join Rowan. He told that his new job has one more positive point: the place is in the vicinity of his home in Swedesboro.

For the last few years, Gloucester County and Mantua Township officials have been making efforts with Inversand in order to preserve the site. The township has supported an annual Dig Day that is open to the public.

According to Lacovara, "People get so excited when they make that personal connection. They are so thrilled that they, themselves, found something that is 65 million years old. Kids are just fascinated".