STAFF
John M. Harris, Ph.D. Chief Curator and Department Chair;
Head, Vertebrate Studies Division
Interested in Pleistocene mammals of North America
and Neogene ungulates from Africa.
(323) 857-6300 x131
Christopher A. Shaw
M.S. Collections Manager
Contact: cshaw@nhm.org
(323) 857-6300 x124
I am the Collection Manager at the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. I have worked at Rancho La Brea since 1969 when the Natural History Museum began the excavation in Pit 91, Hancock Park’s single most prolific excavation site until the Project 23 discoveries. I am a graduate from California State University, Long Beach, where I earned both a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and a Master of Science degree in Biology. At the Page Museum, I oversee the largest collection of late Pleistocene fossils in the world and now manage the day-to-day excavation of the huge cache of recently unearthed fossils known as Project 23: New Discoveries at Rancho La Brea. In addition to paleontology, I am interested in biology, geology, and zoology and have authored, co-authored or edited more than 35 articles in the paleontologic/biologic fields. My current research includes fossil arachnids, western North American vertebrate fossil faunas, saber-toothed cat phylogeny, natural history, and paleopathology. For more than 30 years I have conducted regular collecting and research expeditions in Sonora, Mexico, in conjunction with an international team of paleontologists from the United States and Mexico.
Shelley M. Cox
B.A. Laboratory Supervisor
Contact: scox@tarpits.org
(323) 857-6300 x120
I am the Laboratory Supervisor in the “Fish Bowl Lab” where I supervise volunteers in the cleaning and preparing of the fossils recovered from Hancock Park. I graduated from University of California, Los Angeles in 1972 with a degree in History and began my association with the Museum as a volunteer a year later. The lab that I supervise has grown in size since 1975, when it was a single, A-frame design, to more than four times its original size. The “Fish Bowl” now allows the public to view behind-the-scenes operations, providing viewing access for the public to see the scientists and volunteers doing actual paleontological work. My research has focused primarily on the extinct short-faced bear and mammoths.
Cathy McNassor, M.A. Archivist
Interested in history of paleontology in the American West
and Chester Stock
(323) 857-6300 x130
Aisling Farrell
Curatorial Assistant
Contact: afarrell@tarpits.org
As the Curatorial Assistant at Rancho La Brea, I assist the Collections Manager in coordinating Project 23, including identifying and cataloging as well as helping to maintain the RLB collection of nearly 3.5 million specimens. I believe that having a well curated and easily accessible collection is extremely important, for both research and for the protection of important specimens. My interest in paleontology and zoology was sparked at a young age by visits to natural history museums and my family’s subscription to National Geographic Magazine. I completed my undergraduate degree in Earth Science, majoring in Zoology and followed that with a Master's degree in Taxonomy and Biodiversity focusing my research in fish systematics. Since then I have traveled a lot and worked both in the Education Department here at the Page Museum and as Curatorial Assistant at the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum.
Trevor Valle
Assistant lab supervisor
Contact: tvalle@tarpits.org
I have wanted to work at Rancho La Brea since first visiting the museum when I was 11 years old. After attaining my Masters degree in Biology, I worked in the Education Department at the Natural History Museum as a Gallery Interpreter. 18 months later, the Page Museum needed an Assistant Lab Supervisor, and I happily accepted. As a member of R.O.A.R. (Reach Out. Act. Respond), the World Wildlife Fund, and the Steve Irwin / Wildlife Warriors Foundation, I am dedicated to the preservation of natural habitats and the animals that call them home. I'm still trying to figure out how a reptile/shark/cuttlefish guy ended up at an Ice-Age Mammal Museum, but I'm not letting that bother me too much.
Kristen Brown
Lead Excavator
Contact: kbrown@tarpits.org
As the lead excavator I am in charge of the maintenance and excavations both in Pit 91 and with the Project 23 boxes. With my degree in geology from CSUN, I have been particularly interested in the stratigraphy of Pit 91 and hope to conduct some further work on the new deposits from Project 23. Having worked here at La Brea for 6 years, still one of my thrills is sharing our knowledge with the public, especially the thousands of kids that come through the park and museum. Currently, I am also taking classes towards a Master’s degree in Geology at CSUN.
Andrea Thomer
B.A. Excavator
Contact: athomer@tarpits.org
Excavatrix by way of a B.A. in English (UCLA!); thus, editrix of our staff blog "The Excavatrix." I've worked at the Page Museum as an excavator since June of 2007, and volunteered here for two years prior. I'm interested in finding new ways of doing old work via the combination of seemingly disparate disciplines (like the study of English literature and the work of paleontology…). I am extremely interested in information science, database management, creating new computer applications that utilize information from our database, large-scale extinction events, the order Xenarthra, Victorian literature, photography, and knitting.
Ryan Long
Excavator
Contact: rlong@tarpits.org
I began at La Brea as a lab volunteer in June 2005 and had two seasons of Pit 91 excavation before coming on as a full time excavator. As a member of the excavation team, I see to the set up, excavation, and maintenance of the deposits of Project 23. Particularly important to me is maintaining the quality of specimens through implementing the least destructive excavation methods possible. I am currently the only male excavator and I contribute to the excavatrix blog as such; therein discussing my trials and finds from Project 23. On the side, I am working on research involving evolution, morphology, and taxonomy of felids through investigation of their collar bones. I am also interested in the relationships between ecosystems and carnivore species, as well as between humans and ecosystems, carnivores, and extinctions.
Michelle Tabencki
Excavator
Contact: mtabenck@tarpits.org
I am currently employed part-time as an excavator since I am pursuing my masters in physical anthropology at Cal State LA. My main focus will be on forensics, which is one of the reasons that I am excited to be working as a paleontologist. Everyday we discover new bones and stumble upon challenges such as removing associated skeletons and pathologic specimens. One of my favorite subjects here at the tar pits is paleo-pathologies (injured or diseased bones in fossils).
Laura Tewksbury
Excavator
Contact: ltewksbu@tarpits.org
When I was four years old, I informed my parents that I was going to be a paleontologist. Other than clarifying at twelve that I wanted to be a Paleo-animal behavioralist, I never changed my mind! I am currently working away at my Biology major (with an emphasis in Ecology and Evolution) at CSUF. My non-verbal cousin inspired my second major in American Sign Language Interpreting and I love using my skills to bring my enthusiasm for science to a an expanded audience.
During high school, I volunteered in the Splash Lab at R.H. Dana Elementary where I helped prepare a Miocene whale and interactively teach children about paleontology. During my junior college years, I took classes in fossil preparation at both Irvine Valley and Saddleback community colleges, working on material from local construction sites. After volunteering in the Page Museum laboratory and Pit 91 for a few years, I was thrilled to be chosen as an Excavator on Project 23.
COLLECTION
The Rancho La Brea collections are housed on site at the George C. Page Museum in Hancock Park. The collections document the Rancho La Brea biota and include some 3.5 million specimens representing over 600 species of animals and plants. The site-specific collections also include geological samples, archeological artifacts, historical objects, a library, an archive, and collections of correspondence and ephemera related to the locality. Vertebrate fossils from other asphaltic fossiliferous localities in California are housed in the collections of the Vertebrate Paleontology Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Asphalt seeps in the southwest corner of the Mexican land grant of Rancho La Brea have been exploited since prehistoric times. Native Americans used the sticky asphalt as a glue and a caulk and early settlers in Los Angeles used it as for roofing material, fuel and a preservative. The first record of fossils from the asphalt seeps was published in 1875 but collecting did not begin in earnest until the early twentieth century. The 23 acres that constitute the most richly fossiliferous area was donated to the County of Los Angeles in 1924 by landowner Captain G. Alan Hancock. The locality became California State Historic Landmark No. 170 in 1940 and a National Natural Landmark in 1963. The La Brea tar pits became the type locality of the Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age in 1951.
The Rancho La Brea biota is one of the world’s richest and most diverse late Pleistocene terrestrial assemblages. It is perhaps best known for its extensive holdings of carnivorans of which dire wolves (Canis dirus, 4,000+ individuals), saber-toothed cats (Smilodon fatalis, 2,000+ individuals) and coyotes (Canis latrans) predominate among the 60+ species of mammals. Asphalt is a superb preservative for delicate bones and the collection of fossil birds from Rancho La Brea is one of the world's largest. Collections made in the early twentieth century concentrated on the larger fossil specimens but the current Pit 91 excavation was initiated in 1969 to collect all the fossil material including microfossils. Nearly all of the plants (160 species), insects (149 species), mollusks (56 species), fish (3 species), amphibians (5 species) and reptiles (24 species) are known only from Pit 91.
NEW RESEARCH
Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, have discovered more than two hundred species of bacteria and archaea living in the asphalt seeps in Hancock Park.
USEFUL REFERENCES
Denton, W. 1875. On the asphalt bed near Los Angeles, California. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 18:185–186. [First description of fossils from Rancho La Brea]
Harris, J. M. (Ed) 2001. Rancho La Brea: death trap and treasure trove. Terra, 38, no.2: 1-56. ["Popular" account]
Savage, D.E. 1951. Late Cenozoic vertebrates of the San Francisco Bay region. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, 28 (10): 215–314. [Publication that established the Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age]
Shaw, C.A., and J.P. Quinn. 1986. Rancho La Brea: A look at coastal southern California's past. California Geology, 39 (6):123–133. [Geological summary]
Stock, C. and J. M. Harris. 1992. Rancho La Brea: A record of Pleistocene Life in California. (7th edition). Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series, No. 37; 113pp. [Standard reference with faunal list and extensive bibliography]
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Spencer, L. M., B. van Valkenberg, and J. M. Harris. 2003. A taphonomic investigation of Pit 91, Rancho La Brea. Paleobiology, 29 (4): 561-575.
Coltrain, J. B., J. M. Harris, T. E. Cerling, J. R. Ehleringer, M. Dearing, J. Ward, and J. Allen. 2004. Trophic level relationships among Rancho La Brea fauna and their implications for the paleoecology of the late Pleistocene based on bone collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope chemistry. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 205: 199-219.
Ward, J. K., J. M. Harris, T. E. Cerling, A. Weidenhoeft, M. J. Lott, M. Dearing, J. B. Coltrain, and J. R. Ehleringer. 2005. Carbon starvation in glacial trees recovered from the La Brea tar pits, southern California. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102: 690-694.
Christiansen, P. and J. M. Harris. 2005, The body size of Smilodon (Mammalia: Felidae). Journal of Morphology, 266: 369-384.