Ruiz in the Ruins

When Dr. James Ruiz gets away from his busy job at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, he really gets away. In fact, he goes way back to prehistoric times in areas so remote that there is no TV, no cell phones – not even radio reception. You see, Ruiz, who is a radiologist by day, and his two sons, Michael, 17, and Matthew, 14, are prolific paleontologists.

The Ruiz clan’s fossil fascination began when Matthew was a mere nine-year-old and showed a keen interest in rocks and minerals. So, Ruiz took his two sons over to a geologist friend’s home, spending about two hours perusing his extensive collection from his worldwide travels. “My friend told me later that it appeared that my son (Matthew) had an understanding of about two semesters of geology at LSU,” Ruiz said proudly.

That led to Matthew’s interest in fossils, specifically trilobites, a form of extinct invertebrate marine life. The three have trekked to remote quarries in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Oklahoma in search of these fossilized sea creatures, which lived 250 to 550 million years ago. This past summer, the trio traveled to the shores of Lake Erie in New York to scour for trilobite developments. “My son (Matthew) kind of runs the show in terms of picking out destinations,” Ruiz said. “So, I rely on a 12- or 13-year-old kid to tell us where we’re going for vacation.”

His elder son, Michael, also enjoys these fossil hunting expeditions. “He is pretty obsessive about digging these things up,” Ruiz reported. “It’s sort of a competitive environment when the three of us get to a dig site to see who can find the best stuff.”

During digs, these fish fossils are often found perfectly preserved in limestone shale. So far, Michael’s biggest find has been a “book end” – a piece of rock with the printed cast of the fossil on one side and positive image of the fossil itself on the other. “The prize of the find is the largest, most completely intact fossil possible,” Ruiz explained.

When the explorers come home, Matthew cleans the fossils in a blast chamber. This consists of a plexiglass-topped plywood box with arms holes, allowing him to clean the fossil with a powerscribe, which is a miniature sandblaster using fine abrasive particles such as sodium bicarbonate and aluminum oxide. “He’s very artistic when it comes to actually cleaning the fossil,” Ruiz said. “The trick is to clean the fossil and get the matrix out of the away without destroying the fossil in the process. And, he does a very good job of that.”  

Outside of his paleontology sideline, Ruiz focuses on medicine. His father, Fred Ruiz, was a pediatrician in the Capitol City. From an early age, James was interested in science, always knowing that he wanted to become a doctor.

After graduating from LSU and Tulane University School of Medicine, Ruiz traveled north for his radiology residency in Detroit, Mich. When he finished, he was faced with the difficult decision between academics and private practice. The best fit came from his hometown.

Since 1986, Ruiz has practiced as a diagnostic radiologist at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge. Woman’s delivers about 8,000 babies a year and has one of the largest breast cancer screening programs in the state, with about 45,000 visits a year. The hospital sees about 450 new breast cancers annually. Ruiz concentrates his practice on reading mammograms, as well as neonatal and early pediatric images.

Obviously, Ruiz keeps quite busy at his day job. “The rest of my job is a wife, three kids and a dog,” he said with a laugh. Ruiz met his wife Beth, who has a PhD in clinical psychology, while attending a Christmas eve open house in Baton Rouge. Besides digging for fossils, Matthew enjoys playing the guitar and collecting vintage vinyl records, while Michael plays lacrosse. The Ruiz’s daughter Sarah, age 12, participates in dancing, horse riding and acting. The family dog, Max, a miniature Dachshund, “thinks he’s a Doberman,” Ruiz said.

While Ruiz currently relies on his boys for planning upcoming digs, he personally aspires to go to Canada one day. For now, it’s all about bonding with his sons. “These are guy road trips, basically,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

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