Blaire Van Valkenburgh

Professor Blaire Van Valkenburgh is the Donald R. Dickey Chair in Vertebrate Biology at University of California, Los Angeles, where she is also Curator of the Donald R. Dickey Collection of Birds and Mammals and Associate Dean of Academic Programs in the Division of Life Sciences. 

A vertebrate paleobiologist, Van Valkenburgh’s research has focused on the evolution of form, function, and ecology in organisms, both living and extinct. She has done fieldwork in Kenya on large predatory mammals, where she explores the evolutionary history of carnivores, including sabertooth cats, from both ecological and behavioral perspectives. She holds a Ph.D. in vertebrate paleobiology from the Johns Hopkins University.