Dinosaur's Namesake Joins Geosciences Department

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Celina Suarez in the Sawtooth Mountains

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The department of geosciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will add Celina A. Suarez to its faculty as an assistant professor this fall. Suarez, along with her identical twin sister, made history while working on a dig in 2004. The twins discovered a collection of bones that contained fossils from a previously unknown species of raptor. The new dinosaur species was named Geminiraptor suarezarum in honor of the twin researchers.

“We’re all looking forward to Dr. Suarez joining the department,” said Ralph Davis, professor of geology and chair of the department. “Her research on the use of fossil geochemistry to reconstruct ancient environmental conditions is on the cutting edge of ecology and climate studies.”

Suarez has published several peer-reviewed articles and has presented her research at more than a dozen conferences around the country. Her unique research has landed Suarez in front of the camera several times, appearing on a Discovery-Science Channel special to discuss her role in the discovery of a new dinosaur, Falcarius utahensis, in 2005. She was also featured on a 2011 episode of the television show Dirty Jobs to showcase the physically demanding nature of paleontological research on a dig site. She was described by the show’s host as a “cardiovascular machine with a giant brain and an insatiable level of curiosity.”

“This is a fascinating time to be at the University of Arkansas,” said Suarez. “Between the discovery of dinosaur tracks in the state and the department’s new Ph.D. program, we’re all going to stay very busy.”

Suarez comes to Arkansas from Boise State University where she has been conducting research as part of a two-year National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. She is a member of the Paleontological Society, the Geological Society of America, the Association for Women Geoscientists, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Sciences and the American Geophysical Union.

She earned a bachelor of science from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas (2003). She holds a master of science in geology from Temple University in Philadelphia (2005) and a doctorate in geology from the University of Kansas (2010).