Changing Face of Science exhibition highlights ‘Punk Rock Paleontologist’ at Field Museum
Tattooed, “punk rock paleontologist” Jingmai O’Connor, PhD, is the Field Museum’s Curator of Fossil Reptiles, aka the dinosaur curator – and the subject of the museum’s second installment of The Changing Face of Science exhibition. Changing Face of Science is a series that highlights women and/or scientists of color who are breaking barriers in their field to challenge the typical idea of who can be a scientist.
The exhibition opens Aug. 4. at the Field and will be included in basic admission.
O’Connor says she hopes the exhibition will give some insight into her identity beyond her research.
“I hope people can understand who I am as a person, not just a scientist, to understand scientists are people too, with fears and insecurities, depression and anxiety, and other challenges that they have worked hard to overcome to be the ‘successful’ scientist facade that people see,” O’Connor says. “In this way, I hope a career in science will feel less formidable to some.”
The show shares O’Connor’s path to science while highlighting her passions outside of paleontology, including music and sustainability. It features pieces from O’Connor’s personal collections, including her childhood sketchbook and replica antiques purchased in Chinese markets. It also features fossils related to her research, like a cast of prehistoric bird Qiliania graffini signed by Greg Graffin, evolutionary biologist and lead singer in Bad Religion, for whom O’Connor named the species.
“We hope the exhibition demonstrates that anyone can become a scientist; the key is finding the overlap between what you love and what you’re good at,” says exhibition project manager Lauren Boegen.
O’Connor agrees, noting that each path toward a career in science is unique – and that’s OK.
“I want people to know no one’s path is straightforward, and often that is a great benefit. And I want people to feel that while anyone can be a scientist, you can also do other work but live scientifically, and thus be better caretakers of our planet,” she says.
The Changing Face of Science series kicked off in 2022 by spotlighting the late Lynika Strozier, a young Black scientist who died from COVID in 2020. This exhibition was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant award #MA-249085-OMS-21.