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Sereno studied dinosaur fossils in far-flung
collections in China and Mongolia while
he earned a doctorate in geology at Columbia
University and the American Museum of Natural
History in New York. In 1987, he joined
the faculty of the University of Chicago,
where he teaches paleontology and evolution
to graduate and undergraduate students and
human anatomy to medical students.
In 1999 Sereno co-founded Project Exploration ,
a nonprofit outreach organization dedicated
to bringing the excitement of scientific
discovery to the public providing innovative
educational opportunities for city kids
and girls. Sereno is also one
of National Geographic's esteemed Explorers-in-Residence.
Discoverer of dinosaurs on five continents
and leader of dozens of expeditions, Sereno's
field work began in 1988 in the foothills
of the Andes in Argentina, where his team
discovered the first dinosaurs to roam the
Earth - the predators Herrerasaurus
and the primitive Eoraptor, the "dawn
stealer." These expeditions revealed the
most complete picture yet of the dawn of
the dinosaur era, some 225 million years
ago.
In the early 1990's Sereno's research shifted
to the Sahara, and the search for Africa's
lost world of dinosaurs. Expeditions to
Niger and Morocco resulted in Sereno's team
discovering and naming: Afrovenator,
a new 27-foot-long meat-eater; skeletons
of a 70-foot-long plant-eater he named Jobaria;
a bizarre fish-eating dinosaur named Suchomimus,
with huge claws and a sail on its back;
and the 45-foot-long plant-eater Nigersaurus.
Sereno and his team also discovered the
most fleet-footed meat-eater, 30-foot-long
Deltadromeus, and the skull of a
huge, T. rex-sized meat-eater Carcharodontosaurus.
Besides new and unusual dinosaurs, Sereno's
team stumbled on the world's largest crocodile,
the 40-foot-long Sarcosuchus, dubbed
SuperCroc.
Other expeditions have taken Sereno and
his team to India and the Gobi Desert in
Inner Mongolia.
The author of books and stories in National
Geographic and Natural History and
subject of many documentaries, Sereno's
recognition includes Chicago Tribune's Teacher
of the Year Award (1993), Chicago magazine's
Chicagoan of the Year (1996), Newsweek
magazine's The Century Club (1997),
People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People
(1997), Esquire's 100 Best People in the
World (1997), Boston Museum of Science's
Walker Prize for extraordinary contributions
in paleontology (1997), and Columbia University's
University Medal for Excellence (1999).
Links:
Paul
Sereno, Curriculum Vitae
Requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader
Paul
Sereno's Web Site
http://www.paulsereno.org
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