vailsymposium

Dr. Kenneth Lacovara has unearthed some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the earth, including the massive 65-ton Dreadnoughtus, which appeared in the recent film Jurassic World: Dominion. He is a recipient of The Explorers Club Medal, the highest honor in exploration, previously awarded to pioneers such as Sir Edmund Hillary, Jane Goodall, and Neil Armstrong. His TED talk has been viewed by more than five million people and his book, “Why Dinosaurs Matter,” published by Simon & Schuster, is a winner of the Nautilus Book Prize.

Lacovara’s discoveries have landed him three times in Discover magazine’s 100 Top Science Stories of the Year and he has appeared in more than 20 television documentaries. He founded the Green Jobs Academy, which helps workers retool for careers in green energy and other sustainable fields. He is founding dean of the School of Earth & Environment at Rowan University and is founding executive director of the forthcoming Edelman Fossil Park & Museum, called by Smithsonian Magazine “one of the most anticipated museums in the world.” Since 2022, he has served on the board of Colossal Biotechnology, a CRISPR-based company endeavoring to resurrect the wholly mammoth and other recently extinct species.