Our Staff

Kathy was the first person to join the Marine Biodiversity Center when it opened in 2000. She earned a B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and came to the Natural History Museum with 13 years of marine invertebrate taxonomy experience.

Miguel Ordeñana, who joined NHMLAC in April 2013, is an environmental educator and wildlife biologist.

Susan has worked in the Registrar's Office since 2001, has been Chief Registrar since 2007, and has more than 25 years' professional experience in collections registration and logistics.

Adolfo is studying the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) as related to the Mexican fossil record of small mammal species, working with Xiaoming Wang at NHMLA and Jack Tseng at the University of California Berkeley.

Dr. Greg Pauly is Curator of Herpetology and Co-director of the Urban Nature Research Center. He studies the natural history, evolution, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

Dean is coordinating NHM’s Diversity Initiative for the Southern California Ocean.

As the Fossil Lab Manager Ms. Potze is responsible for the preparation and conservation of all the fossils at Rancho La Brea.

James prepares fossils of mammals, mostly marine mammals including whales, dolphins, and pinnipeds from the Oligocene, Miocene, and Pleistocene, for use in research and display.