Anna K. Behrensmeyer
Department of Paleobiology
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution, USA

Dr. Kay Behrensmeyer is a Research Paleobiologist in the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution and Co-Director of the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, NMNH. She also is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geoscience, University of Arizona. She received her B.A. in Geology in 1967 from Washington University, St. Louis, her M.A. in Geology in 1996 and her Ph.D. in Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology in 1973, both from Harvard University.

Kay's career has focused on vertebrate taphonomy and paleoecology, with particular emphasis on the later Cenozoic of Africa and Pakistan. She has also worked in other parts of the fossil record (North American Jurassic, Cretaceous and Paleocene). She has conducted major field research projects in Africa and Pakistan to investigate the paleoecological context of Miocene through Pleistocene hominoids and hominins. Her work in Pakistan looks at the sediments of fossil-bearing deposits and the resulting biases in the faunal record through time. Kay's Africa research involves long-term study of taphonomic processes in a modern ecosystem as well as investigations of taphonomy and sediments of Miocene through Pleistocene vertebrate bone accumulations.

A major area of emphasis for the past 6 years has been to establish a database for Cenozoic fossil localities in Africa, in connection with the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program (ETE) at NMNH. The database approach utilizes the immense amount of information from the fossil record to test hypotheses about the influence of climate and other environmental parameters on faunal and floral evolution. This new direction in her research draws upon her previous experience in taphonomy and sedimentology to help understand biases in the record and to distinguish paleoecological patterns that relate to the emergence of the modern African fauna as well as to human evolution.

Kay has been involved with geological paleoenvironmental studies in the Olorgesailie Basin since 1986, as part of a team led by Dr. Rick Potts.

Her personal life is centered on her family, including husband Bill and daughters Kristina (9 yrs) and Sarah (7 yrs). They enjoy traveling and outdoor activities such as hiking and camping; also books, telling stories, visiting friends. She likes to draw, listen to music, and cook when she has time.

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