Jessica Portner

Stories By This Author

View More Stories

Dung beetle expedition Catalina Island crew

Join the Dung Beetle Hunt

Walk in the shoes of La Brea Tar Pits scientists who ventured to a less-trodden part of Catalina Island to scout for dung beetles in bison poop!

Read more

Maureen Walsh portrait cropped

Our Dinosaur Librarian

Meet Maureen Walsh, Collections Manager of the Dinosaur Institute, who protects and presides over the Museum’s world-class collection of thousands of specimens spanning the millions of years dinosaurs stomped, darted, and soared around our prehistoric planet

Read more

Elongated Violet Snail (Janthina umbilicata)

Rare Purple Snail Lands Here

The shells of a violet-colored sea snail, Janthina janthina, washed up on SoCal beaches recently.

Read more