Nicholas Pyenson | |
|---|---|
 Nicholas Pyenson in Congreso Futuro, Chile in 2025 | |
| Born | Nicholas D. Pyenson 1980 (age 44–45) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (PhD) Emory University (BS) |
| Awards | Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers World Economic Forum Young Scientist Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Paleontology,Cetology |
| Institutions | National Museum of Natural History |
Nicholas Pyenson is apaleontologist and the curator of fossilmarine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’sNational Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. He is the author of numerous popular science works including the bookSpying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures.[1]
Pyenson received a Bachelor's Degree fromEmory University. In 2002, Pyenson moved to theUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he received a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology in 2008, advised byAnthony Barnosky andDavid R. Lindberg. During this time, he was also working in theUniversity of California Museum of Paleontology.[2] Pyenson's interest in whales led him to his dissertation topic, "Understanding the paleoecology and evolution of cetaceans in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean during the Neogene."[3] Following his PhD, Pyenson completed a postdoctoral fellowship at theUniversity of British Columbia.[4]
Pyenson's research centers focuses on evolutionary patterns in marine animals through time, with a particular focus on patterns ofconvergent evolution inwhales, but has also studiedsea-cows,sea turtles,pinnipeds,sharks, and other marine animals. Pyenson has published over 70 scientific publications, including cover articles in the journalsScience andNature, studying questions about the evolution of body size in papers like "Why whales are big but not bigger: Physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants" (2019) and "Early and fast rise of Mesozoic ocean giants" (2021).[5] In 2012, Pyenson and colleagues reported the discovery of a novelsensory organ that facilitates the behavior in somerorqual baleen whales known as "lunge feeding".[6] Other work has developed the understanding of theodontocetemelon, a structure involved inecholocation.[7]
In 2017, Pyenson was awarded aPresidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers byPresident Barack Obama,[8] and has won numerous research awards from the Smithsonian, including the Secretary’s Research Prize. Pyenson is a member of the Young Scientists community at the World Economic Forum, a Kavli Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences, and a Fulbright Specialist at the US State Department.[4][9]
Pyenson's writing on topics from whales to science and society have appeared in publications such asThe New York Times,[10]Scientific American,[11]Smithsonian (magazine),[12] andThe Washington Post.[13] His work has been the subject of articles in publications includingNational Geographic,[14] The New York Times,[15]The Wall Street Journal,The New Yorker,NPR[16] and more.
His book,Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures (Viking Press, 2018) was called “the best of science writing” by noted biologistE. O. Wilson, was positively reviewed by NPR[17] and The New York Times,[18] and was a finalist in 2019 for the Best Young Adult Science Book from theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.[19]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
