Unit 1
Scientists in The Field
Alexander Kellner
Museu Nacional Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Naturalized Brazilian
Alexander W. A. Kellner is a paleontologist and got his Ph.D. from Columbia University (New York), in a joint program with the American Museum of Natural History. Since 1997, he works at the Museu Nacional/UFRJ in Rio de Janeiro, the oldest scientific institution of Brazil, where he is currently the Director. He took part in numerous field activities, including Antarctica, has described 69 new species with over 970 publications, including 250 original studies. Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, he received the Gran Cruz of the Ordem Nacional do Mérito Centífico, one of the highest scientific recognition of Brazil.
Lisa White
White is Director of Education and Outreach at the University of California Museum of Paleontology and Adjunct Professor of Geology at San Francisco State University. She is a micropaleontologist (specializing in fossil diatoms) and she is active in efforts to increase diversity in the geosciences through programs such as SF-ROCKS (Reaching Out to Communities and Kids with Science in San Francisco). She was the inaugural recipient of the Geological Society of America Bromery Award, an honor bestowed upon a geoscientist who has been instrumental in opening the geoscience field to other minorities.
Dr. George Abungu
Native Kenyan Abungu has won numerous awards in archaeology and has been an active voice in the field. He has been chairman of the International Standing Committee on the Traffic of Illicit Antiquities since 1999. From 1999-2002, Abungu served as the director-general of the National Museums of Kenya. During his time there, he oversaw the rescue of looted vigango (grave markers). In 2012, he was awarded ARCA’s (the Association for Research into Crimes against Art) lifetime achievement award. In 2013, the French government knighted Abungu by The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Richard Leakey
Leakey is an anthropologist, which is a scientist who studies human cultures, and a paleontologist, which is a scientist who studies fossils. While on an expedition in Ethiopia, he discovered stone tools that had been preserved for centuries. After carefully digging that site for over a decade, Leakey and his colleagues found over four hundred fossils from ancient human ancestors. These hominin remains were believed to be at least 2.5 million years old and helped scientists build a link to human evolution. In his later life, Leakey switched his scientific focus from the past to the future, working on conservation efforts for Earth’s resources. In 1993, Leakey was in a plane crash and lost both of his legs due to the accident. This physical disability did not end his career; he has continued to lecture, write, and advocate for conservation.
