Lance Grande

Lance is a curatorial scientist in the Integrative Research Center who specializes in evolutionary biology and comparative anatomy. He has four major areas of research: one on the community paleoecology of North America during the early Cenozoic, particularly in Fossil Basin, Wyoming; another on the evolutionary biology and biogeography of ray-finned fishes; another on the comparative anatomy of vertebrates; and finally, one on the methods and philosophy of science.[[{"fid":"808861","view_mode":"embed","fields":{"format":"embed"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"embed"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"alt":"Man wearing a brown hat and sunglasses, sitting amongst rock and holding a hammer","height":289,"width":209,"align":"left","class":"media-element file-embed","data-delta":"1"}}]]Although the bulk of his work has been global in scope, including work in 15 countries, he has had a particularly active field program in the famous Green River Formation of Wyoming for more than three decades and is a leading authority for this region. His collecting activities and collaborations with other museums around the world have helped make The Field Museum’s fossil fish collection one of the two largest in North America, and one of the four largest in the world.

After decades of publishing almost exclusively for scientists and graduate students, he recently broadened his target audience to better communicate the importance of science to the general public. He currently sees science communication as an underserved area of growing importance in the United States and believes that senior scientists can make uniquely important contributions for...