Hello, my name is Kris, and I'm a paleontologist currently serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

I grew up just outside of Richmond, Virginia, where a childhood combination of outdoor adventures alongside countless trips to either the National Museum of Natural History in DC or the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh built an early love of nature and paleontology.

I rekindled my childhood love of fossils when I went to the College of William & Mary, where I combined paleontology with an avid interest in political science into a double major in Geology and Government. I then headed south, to the University of Georgia for my MS in Geology, using quantitative methods to study the community paleoecology and biogeography of the Jurassic Sundance Seaway.

I then continued south to the University of Florida where I also joined the Invertebrate Paleontology Division at the Florida Museum of Natural History. At UF I completed my PhD in geology with a minor in wildlife ecology and conservation, addressing conservation paleontological questions in the freshwater springs and rivers of Florida.

I am actively involved in the Paleontological Society, serving as Student Representative from 2017-2019 and recently finishing a term as a member of the Ethics Committee.

Outside of paleontology my interests include traveling, scuba diving, reading, Pokemon Go, and slowly trying to teach myself to play the banjo. I also continue my love of nature and an active interest in conservation issues and science education.