Myria Perez

Like most children, Myria was fascinated with dinosaurs when she was young. Her passion for paleontology led her to volunteer at her local Houston Museum of Natural Science at the age of twelve. There, she found mentors, and learned to prepare fossils, care for museum specimens, and embark on excavations with the paleo crew! She pursued her undergraduate degrees in Geology and Anthropology at Southern Methodist University while working in the fossil labs on campus between classes. During her collegiate years, she worked on a variety of fossil vertebrates including marine reptiles from across the globe. Her SMU senior thesis was written on Eunotosaurus. Some of the fossils she worked on are now on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History exhibit called Sea Monster's Unearthed: Life in Angola's Ancient Seas. She also conducted research at the NMNH on the taphonomy of England's ichthyosaurs. Today she is a fossil preparator who cleans fossils in a visible prep lab at the Perot Museum of Nature & Science. Myria is also an AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador encouraging girls and women in STEM.