Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Dr. Nick Pyenson is curator of fossil marine mammals in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. In the past decade, he has worked with and trained over 25 scientists on every continent, collaborating on discoveries that appear frequently in the New York Times, Washington Post, as well as on NPR, CBC, and the BBC. Along with the highest research awards from the Smithsonian, he has also received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Obama White House. He is also a National Geographic Explorer, a Kavli Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences, and has worked with the World Economic Forum. He is also the author of the acclaimed non-fiction book Spying on Whales, and co-author with science illustrator Alex Boersma of the children’s book The Whale Who Swam Through Time. He has degrees from Emory University, the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia.