Paul Sereno

Paleontologist at the University of Chicago

President and co-founder of Project Exploration

The reinvention of the life of the mind brings us to discussion about the ancient knowledge of our Terra Mater. Paleontologist Paul Sereno teaches the world about its evolutionary past through what he calls “adventure with a purpose.” His travels have brought him to discover important links in the evolution of life on earth such as his discovery of the world’s largest crocodile, the 40-foot Sarchosuchus, and many other 30-foot plus meat-eaters in the Sahara Desert. Through his own Project Exploration, Sereno brings the wonder of science professions to the public. Come see him talk in April about his many adventures digging up dinosaurs!

Paul Sereno grew up in Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, and studied art and biology as an undergraduate at Northern Illinois University. A behind-the-scenes museum tour opened his eyes to a life of science, art and adventure: "I never recovered from that visit. In paleontology, I saw an irresistible combination of travel, adventure, art, biology and geology."

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 and 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 The 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).