Our Staff

Tania is responsible for the care and conservation of objects throughout NHM, including temporary and permanent exhibitions, and works closely with Exhibitions and Registrar's Office staff to ensure the safe handling, mounting, and installation of exhibition objects and specimens.

Maiz spent countless childhood hours exploring the fields, foothills, and tidepools of Southern California, and has loved natural history for as long as she can remember.

Robert Cripps began as a volunteer for the Dinosaur Institute and was quickly hired as a paleontological preparator.

Alberto is a Mexican paleontologist who studies paleoecology, in particular, fossil amphibians and reptiles (toads, frogs, turtles, snakes, and lizards).

Dr. Regan Dunn is an Assistant Curator at La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. She is a paleobotanist whose research seeks to understand the interplay between climate, plants and animal evolution through time.

Erika's interest in fossils, especially dinosaurs, came from her experiences as a volunteer and research intern with the Dinosaur Institute at NHM.

Dr. Estrada holds a Ph.D. in History from University of California, Los Angeles and is a social and cultural historian, specializing in nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Los Angeles.

As Collections Manager Ms. Farrell has co-managed all of the fossils at Rancho La Brea for over a decade.

Kirk's research is focused on the systematics and evolutionary biology of a family of polychaetes known as "fan worms," as well as the philosophical foundations of phylogenetic systematics.

Dre'Shawn is the Program Manager for UNLAB (Understanding Nature and Los Angeles Biodiversity), our research mentoring network for recent college graduates funded through NSF's RaMP program.