Stephanie Baumgart- Postdoctoral Researcher Headshot

773.702.6025

slbaumgart@uchicago.edu

https://www.stephaniebaumgart.com/

Organismal Biology and Anatomy

Chicago, IL


Biography

A life-long lover of dinosaurs, Stephanie began learning fossil preparation in Paul’s lab during the summer of her second year of undergraduate study. She continued working for Paul as a teaching assistant for both of his classes and conducting research on pneumaticity in pterosaurs and birds for her honors thesis. She received a Bachelors in Science with honors and a specialization in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Chicago.

Since then, Stephanie has continued research on the evolution of vertebrate flight. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology, focusing on comparing morphological adaptations for vertebrate flight to address how pterosaurs might have evolved to body sizes so much larger than those of birds and bats today.

In addition to research, Stephanie is very passionate about teaching and outreach. She travels with the Dinosaur Science class for their field trip to help teach the students excavation techniques. She has been a teaching assistant for multiple classes, ranging from human anatomy at the Pritzker School of Medicine to paleontology classes to an interdisciplinary class on the origin and evolution of intelligent life. Stephanie has also visited Chicago-area schools to talk to students about paleontology and has given many tours of the Sereno Fossil Lab to local student groups. She works for the Dozin’ with the Dinos program at the Field Museum to teach elementary-aged students and their families about prehistoric animals and modern birds. Stephanie is also one of the founders of the University of Chicago Paleontology Club, a club to bring together those interested in learning about paleontology, either as a career or a hobby.

Publications

Wing Shape in Waterbirds: Morphometric Patterns Associated with Behavior, Habitat, Migration, and Phylogenetic Convergence Download PDF

Ontogeny of the anuran urostyle and the developmental context of evolutionary novelty Link