From the Gobi desert to the hills of Patagonia, Mark Norell has traveled the world to uncover rare fossils of ancient animals and trained a new generation of paleontologists who are now leading the field in the US, China, and Argentina. But here’s one thing you might not expect from the world’s leading authority on dinosaurs: he’s not that into dinosaurs. Find out how Norell—who says that his job is about the ideas, not the animals—has refined a style of inquiry that has helped him get to the forefront of his field and how you, too, can think like a scientist.