Scott D. Sampson: Difference between revisions

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|04|22|dfmf=yes}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nuvomagazine.com/culture/science-world-dr-scott-sampson/amp|title = Science World's Dr. Scott Sampson|date = 28 February 2019}}</ref>

| birth_place = [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada

'''Scott Donald Sampson''' (born April 22, 1961)<ref>https://www.twitter.com/drscottsampson/status/1385239880762941449?s=46</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/20/california-sciences-museums-what-its-like-without-us/amp/ | title=California Academy of Sciences — what it's like without us during the pandemic | date=20 December 2020 }}</ref> is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[paleontologist]] and science communicator. Sampson is currently the Executive Director of [[California Academy of Sciences]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]]. He was previously Vice President of Research & Collections and Chief Curator at the [[Denver Museum of Nature and Science|Denver Museum of Nature & Science]],.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.dmns.org/about-us/board-of-trustees-and-executive-profiles/scott-sampson/ | title=About Us | access-date=2014-02-25 | archive-date=2018-01-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113150224/http://www.dmns.org/about-us/board-of-trustees-and-executive-profiles/scott-sampson/ | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Wilford|first=John Noble|title=The Making of a Vegetarian: A Dinosaur Is Caught in the Act |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/science/05dino.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 May 2005}}</ref> Sampson is notable for his work on the carnivorous [[theropod]] [[dinosaurs]] ''[[Majungasaurus]]'' and ''[[Masiakasaurus]]'' and his extensive research into the Late Cretaceous Period, particularly in [[Madagascar]].<ref name=krauseetal2007>{{cite book |last=Krause |first=David W. |author2=Sampson, Scott D. |author3=Carrano, Matthew T. |author4=O'Connor, Patrick M. |year=2007 |chapter=Overview of the history of discovery, taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of ''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar |editor=Sampson, Scott D. |editor2=Krause, David W. |title=''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=27 |series=Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir '''8''' |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[1:OOTHOD]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=13274054 }}</ref><ref name=sampsonwitmer2007>{{cite book |last=Sampson |first=Scott D. |author2=Witmer, Lawrence M. |year=2007 |chapter=Cranofacial anatomy of ''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar|editor=Sampson, Scott D. |editor2=Krause, David W. |title=''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. He gave Masiakasaurus its name and also mentions on an episode of The Dinosaur Train that he participated in naming Kosmoceratops. |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=27 |series=Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir '''8''' |pages=32–102 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[32:CAOMCT]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=129240095 }}</ref> He is also known as the presenter of the [[PBS Kids]] show ''[[Dinosaur Train]]''.

Sampson was born in the neighborhood of [[Dunbar-Southlands]] in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]]. He attended [[Point Grey Secondary School]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nuvomagazine.com/culture/science-world-dr-scott-sampson/amp|title = Science World's Dr. Scott Sampson|date = 28 February 2019}}</ref> Sampson studied for a Ph.D. in [[Zoology]] from the [[University of Toronto]]. For his doctorate he produced a thesis on two newly found species of [[ceratopsid]]s, dated to the [[Late Cretaceous]] period in [[Montana]] and the growth and function of ceratopsid horns and frills.<ref name="umnh">{{cite web|url=http://www.umnh.utah.edu/sampson|title=Museum Staff Profiles: Collections and Research Department: Scott Sampson, Ph.D.|publisher=[[Natural History Museum of Utah|Utah Museum of Natural History]]|accessdate=May 26, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609195835/http://www.umnh.utah.edu/sampson|archive-date=June 9, 2010}}</ref> Sampson graduated from the University of Toronto in 1993 and worked for a year at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[New York City]]. Then he worked for five years as an assistant professor of anatomy at the [[New York College of Osteopathic Medicine]] on [[Long Island]].<ref name="umnh"/> In 1999 he accepted positions as assistant professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the [[Natural History Museum of Utah|Utah Museum of Natural History]] (nowadays called the Natural History Museum of Utah and relocated in the new Rio Tinto Center as of 2011). Sampson resided in California at this time, but continued his research with the Utah museum as a research curator.<ref name="umnh"/> In February 2013, Sampson took a position as Vice President of Research and Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rinaldi|first=Ray|title=Denver Museum of Nature & Science appoints TV's "Dr. Scott the Paleontologist" to head its research team|url=http://blogs.denverpost.com/artmosphere/2013/02/19/denver-museum-of-nature-science-appoints-tvs-dr-scott-the-paleontologist-to-head-its-research/8786/|publisher=Denver Post|accessdate=17 April 2013}}</ref>

Aside from his research conducted in museums, Sampson has undertaken paleontological fieldwork in countries such as [[Zimbabwe]], [[South Africa]] and [[Madagascar]] as well as the [[United States]] and [[Canada]].<ref name="umnh"/> His specialist fields of research include [[phylogenetics]], functional morphology, and evolution of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs.<ref name="umnh"/> Sampson is particularly notable for his work on the carnivorous [[theropod]] dinosaur ''[[Majungasaurus]]'' and his studies into the paleobiogeography of [[Gondwana]].<ref name=smith2007>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Joshua B. |year=2007 |chapter=Dental morphology and variation in ''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar |editor=Sampson, Scott D. |editor2=Krause, David W. |title=''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=27 |series=Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir '''8''' |pages=103–126 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[103:DMAVIM]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=85729335 }}</ref><ref name=sampsonetal2001>{{cite journal |last=Sampson |first=Scott D. |author2=Carrano, Matthew T. |author3=Forster, Catherine A. |year=2001 |title=A bizarre predatory dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar |journal=Nature |pmid=11206544 |volume=409 |issue=6819 |pages=504–506 |doi=10.1038/35054046|bibcode=2001Natur.409..504S |s2cid=205013285 }}</ref><ref name=sampsonetal1996>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/02724634.1996.10011350 |last=Sampson |first=Scott D. |author2=Krause, David W. |author3=Dodson, Peter |author-link3=Peter Dodson |author4=Forster, Catherine A. |year=1996 |title=The premaxilla of Majungasaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda), with implications for Gondwanan paleobiogeography |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=601–605 |bibcode=1996JVPal..16..601S |url=http://www.vertpaleo.org/publications/jvp/contents-16-4.cfm |access-date=2010-05-22 |archive-date=2007-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927204236/http://www.vertpaleo.org/publications/jvp/contents-16-4.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=sampsonetal1998>{{cite journal |last=Sampson |first=Scott D. |author2=Witmer, Lawrence M.|author3=Forster, Catherine A.|author4=Krause, David W.|author5=O'Connor, Patrick M.|author6=Dodson, Peter|author-link6=Peter Dodson|author7=Ravoavy, Florent|year=1998 |title=Predatory dinosaur remains from Madagascar: implications for the Cretaceous biogeography of Gondwana |journal=Science |volume=280 |issue=5366 |pages=1048–1081 |doi=10.1126/science.280.5366.1048 |pmid=9582112|bibcode=1998Sci...280.1048S |s2cid=22449613 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/45e8c38b33bafbb7893fb97c771450bf013481b5 }}</ref><ref name=majungamemoir>{{cite journal |last1=Sampson |first1=Scott D. |author2=Krause, David W.|year=2007 |title=Craniofacial anatomy of ''Majungasaurus crenatissimus'' (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=27|issue=supplement 2|pages=32–102|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[32:CAOMCT]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=129240095 }}</ref> In 1995 he made a phylogenetic analysis of the [[Centrosaurinae]] and [[Ceratopsidae]] in the state of [[Montana]] and produced two papers on these horned dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous. Sampson also published a paper documenting the discovery of the first ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' specimen found in Utah, as well as the first evidence of coexistence between ''Tyrannosaurus'' and sauropods.<ref>Sampson, Scott D., and Mark A. Loewen. “Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) North Horn Formation of Utah: Biogeographic and Paleoecologic Implications.” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 25, no. 2, 2005, pp. 469–472. www.jstor.org/stable/4524461.</ref>

*{{cite journal | doi = 10.1080/02724634.1996.10011350 | last1 = Sampson | first1 = S. D. | last2 = Krause | first2 = D. W. | last3 = Dodson | first3 = P. | last4 = Forster | first4 = C. A. | year = 1996 | title = The premaxilla of ''Majungasaurus'' (Dinosauria: Theropoda), with implications for Gondwanan paleobiogeography | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 16 | issue = 4| pages = 601–605 | jstor=4523759| bibcode = 1996JVPal..16..601S }}