Experiences at the Bruce: Dead in the Water: The Rise and Fall of Ocean Giants
Sunday, August 29, 2026, 2–4pm
Learn about the evolution and extinction of our oceans’ most magnificent animals across deep time. Dr. Formoso will discuss how dramatic events both shape and clear the way for new forms to emerge and replace others in an endless cycle of survival and change.
Tickets are free with museum admission. Registration is recommended.
Kiersten Formoso is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, her undergraduate Alma Mater, and a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, commencing her research on the locomotion and evolution of extinct marine reptiles, many of which lived alongside the dinosaurs, like mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, as well as the ancestors of living marine mammals like whales and seals. Using these aquatic animals, her main question is: How do an animal's existing features control its evolution? Off the job, she enjoys playing trombone and James Cameron movies.
