Dino Fest

Dr. Nathan Smith - Curator of the Dinosaur Institute at NHMLA

Dr. Nathan Smith supervises the Dinosaur Institute staff and conducts research in support of NHM programs. He holds a B.A. from Augustana College, M.S. from the University of Iowa, and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Nate was a professor at Howard University before joining NHM in 2015. Fieldwork has taken Nate to Antarctica, Argentina, China, and the western USA. His research is funded by the National Science Foundation, and focuses on the evolution of Triassic–Jurassic dinosaurs and the application of comparative methods to broad questions in paleontology. Nate's Antarctic field program is featured in the 3-D IMAX® movie, Dinosaurs of Antarctica.

Stuart Sumida - Paleontologist and Professor of Biology, CSUSB

Stuart Sumida is a paleontologist and professor of Biology at California State University San Bernardino. He studies the origins of amniotes – the vertebrates that completed the final steps of the water-to-land transition, and was the California state-wide leader contributing to the preparation of “Sue” the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus specimen ever discovered. Additionally, Sumida is one of the most sought-after animal anatomists in Hollywood, having provided anatomical consultation on over sixty motion pictures, including: The Lion King, Tarzan, Mulan, the How to Train Your Dragon films, Life of Pi, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Zootopia, and more recently Jumanji, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, the television shows Camp Cretaceous and His Dark Materials, and the video game Horizon Zero Dawn.

Luis M. Chiappe - Senior VP, Research & Collections and Gretchen Augustyn Director, Dinosaur Institute at NHMLA

Dr. Chiappe oversees the research programs of more than 25 PhD scientists and the vast collections of NHMLAC. A vertebrate paleontologist and the Gretchen Augustyn Director of the Dinosaur Institute, he has conducted extensive research on the evolution of dinosaurs, particularly on their evolutionary connection with birds. Dr. Chiappe’s research has been published in nearly 200 scholarly articles, he’s also the author of Walking on Eggs, Glorified Dinosaurs, and Birds of Stone. He is a J. S. Guggenheim Fellow, a Humboldt Awardee, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an Adjunct Professor at USC.

Chris Weisbart - Director of Exhibition Production at NHMLA

Chris Weisbart is the Director of Exhibit Production at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where he leads the teams responsible for the design, fabrication, and installation of the Museum's exhibitions and displays. He has had a decades-long career creating immersive exhibitions as both a technical lead and designer, and at the experiential entertainment firm Two Bit Circus, where he was the Director of Design and Fabrication.

In 2011, Chris was the exhibitions team lead responsible for coordinating the fabrication and installation of the Dinosaur Hall at NHMLAC. He worked closely with Dr. Luis Chiappe to bring together the multimedia, lighting, and fabrication teams needed to create this spectacular hall.

Patrick O'Connor - Paleontologist and Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University

Patrick O’Connor is a paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer who searches for fossils in Madagascar, Tanzania, and Antarctica, with discoveries of animals we would never have imagined just a few years ago. He completed his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, followed by his PhD at Stony Brook University in New York. He has been a professor at Ohio University since 2003 and is currently on sabbatical as a Visiting Distinguished Researcher at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). Pat works with students and others from around the globe to understand ecosystems just before the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.