Ultimately individuals, rather than government action in public schools, may play the greatest role in combating fossil theft and promoting internal dinosaur interest. One Mongolian who has taken undertaken the task of dinosaur education is Paleontologist Dr. Bolortsetseg Minjin.

In November 2007, Bolortsetseg, who received her Ph.D. from CUNY and the American Museum of Natural History, established the Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs. The institute’s goal is to inform Mongolians, especially students, about dinosaurs and what they have to offer.

Everyone in Mongolia knows what dinosaurs are, she said, but few have truly accurate information about the giant lizards or why they are important to Mongolia. "Obviously we paleontologists didn’t do a good job of educating the public," she said. "We have to start from scratch and give people basic information."

This fall, Bolortsetseg will travel to schools with a trunk full of fossils, introducing and connecting kids to prehistoric Mongolia. Worldwide youngsters are fascinated by the creatures, but in Mongolia they seem to have little opportunity to advance their knowledge of dinosaurs. "The interest exists, but it hasn’t been encouraged," Bolortsetseg said. "We haven’t been using [dinosaurs] as a tool to get kids excited about science. That’s what my institution wants to do."

Eventually she hopes to establish a paleontology museum in the center of Ulaanbaatar, if she can find the funding. For now, however, Bolortsetseg will try to spread information about dinosaurs and train a new wave of Mongolian paleontologists.

In the minds of scientists like Bolortsetseg and Currie, fostering education and interest in young Mongolians may be the only way the country can combat its fossil theft problem.