Dr. W. Scott Persons
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Dr. W. Scott Persons

Dinosaur Paleontologist

 
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Exploring Lost Worlds

& Uncovering Prehistoric Beasts

The work of a paleontologist doesn't end with the discovery of a fossil or with the publication of a new scientific report. The creatures of prehistory have an unmatched ability to capture the imagination of the general public, to spark intellectual curiosity, and to open the door to a lifelong fascination with the natural world. As a paleontologist, I work to discover, analyze, and share with as wide an audience as possible how the denizens of ancient Earth once lived.   

 

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Discoveries, outreach, media, and everyday life of a paleontologist.

 
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Dig Deeper

Life on Earth has been evolving for more than 3.5 billion years. Here are some of the highlights.

Now on the National Geographic Channel, the new show “Lost Beasts Unearthed: Secrets of the Deadly T. rex” follows my team as we chart the fossilized path of a tyrannosaur.

 

At the Mace Brown Museum of Natural History (where I’m the curator), we’ve put together a video tour highlighting some of my favorite specimens and fossil beasts in our collection.

 

As a professor of paleobiology, I teach at the College of Charleston. . . but my favorite classroom is the Wyoming badlands. Every summer, I lead a team of students into Triceratops Gulch. There, we’re working to understand a 66-million-year-old ecosystem and the dinosaurs that called it home.   

 

Preview a four-lesson massive open online course from the University of Alberta where I give an overview of the evolutionary changes that occur when air-breathing terrestrial reptiles return to water.

 

Preview a five-lesson massive open online course from the University of Alberta where I give an overview of predatory dinosaurs and the origins of birds.

 

Preview of a four-lesson massive open online course from the University of Alberta where I give an overview of the origin of vertebrates.

 

The skull of a ceratopsian is too big for our team to lift and carry away, and the dig site is too remote to drive in heavy equipment. The solution? The University of Alberta calls in a helicopter.

 

About Me

WALTER SCOTT PERSONS, IV

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I am told that I have been in love with paleontology from the age of 2 ½, when my father gave me my first dinosaur book. Since then, I have taken part in fossil-hunting expeditions throughout the badlands of the American West, the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, the canyons of Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge, the pampas of Argentina, and the volcanic ash beds of Northern China. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Geology from Macalester College and a master’s degree and PhD in Evolution and Systematics from the University of Alberta.

I’m head curator of the Mace Brown Museum of Natural History and a research curator at the Glenrock Paleon Museum. I teach as an assistant professor at the College of Charleston.

About Hannah

A paleontologist's best friend

What better sidekick for hunting bones and exploring the badlands could you have? My dog Hannah is a rescued mutt and a loyal companion. She is never afraid to blaze a new trail, or to lend a paw when it comes time to dig.

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