Zoom Meeting.

“When I was young, I've always had a fascination of the history of the natural world. This fascination was fueled by various camping, zoo, and museum trips, and documentary series such as Prehistoric Park. This led me to pursue my B.A. in geology at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania and, later my M.S. in biology at Youngstown State University. My time as a student was filled with experiences in public outreach, field work in both the Mojave desert and the Lance Formation, as well as teaching introductory biology and anatomy labs for YSU. We truly are living in a new golden age of paleontology where even the most familiar of fossil taxa life appearances are being revised due to innovations in technology and new discoveries, which is why my research focus is on fossil vertebrate integument.

While my story as a researcher is still being written, it has been a grand epic of forging alliances with people in the field, and continuing on with the never-ending quest to understand the history of life on Earth.”

— Michael Deak