Our Team
Departments
- Executive Staff
- Department Heads
- Curatorial Staff
- Outreach Presenters
Executive Staff
Adam Mekler is the world’s leading force for preserving the cultural history of the numerous tribes of the Amazon before they vanish from Earth. He is the authority of Amazonia tribal culture, classification of objects and identification of object materials.
Mekler documents the historical aspects of each object in the museum’s important, comprehensive Amazonian collection and helps maintain the physical health of the objects, which are primarily ephemeral materials such as feathers, bark cloth, vegetal fibers, seeds, shells and wood. The nature of these materials prevents their preservation in the rainforest where humidity, heat and the destructive action of numerous insects can destroy it in a matter of days.
Mekler also maintains a research database of over 2,500 Amazonian cultural material objects that includes photographs, native titles, tribal, geographical, historical, materials and ritual information, including literature and historical references.
Although each tribe has unique tools, systems of belief and governance, language, culture and arts, they share the threat that their society and customs are susceptible to disappearing and being forgotten. Adam Mekler believes “it is the duty of institutions such as the Houston Museum of Natural Science to protect and preserve these objects in order to promote further study and understanding of these unique tribal cultures for future generations as well as imparting knowledge to people.”
As associate curator of Amazonia, Mekler contributes to the exhibits in the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas, and has curated numerous temporary exhibitions at HMNS. Several have traveled to other prestigious museum across the country. He has written numerous books, and has contributed to many more.
Adam Mekler studied at University of Southern California and California State University, Northridge, and has been an associate professor at University of California at Los Angeles for over 20 years. He is also an accomplished musician and plays piano in chamber music performances.
Exhibit Halls
- John P. McGoven Hall of the Americas
The world-renowned paleontologist Dr. Robert T. Bakker has changed the image of dinosaurs from slow-moving, slow-witted, cold-blooded creatures. He posited that dinosaurs had feathers, long before feathered fossils were found, and champions that some dinosaurs were warm blooded.
Bakker is most noted most for his theoretical work on dinosaur habits, habitats and extinction. He is the originator of the controversial hypotheses that dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded, that diseases caused the demise of the dinosaurs, and dinosaur mothers cared for their young. His then controversial theories were first introduced in his groundbreaking 1986 book The Dinosaur Heresies: New Theories Unlocking the Mystery of the Dinosaurs and Their Extinction.
In recent years, Bakker has pursued his interest in using CSI-like forensic techniques to re-create the environments and deaths of prehistoric creatures. Using this insight, the HMNS Morian Hall of Paleontology features fossil skeletons in life-like poses interacting with each other in realistic scenarios. Bakker worked with paleo-artists to create accompanying murals depicting animals in the flesh, feathers and scales in their contemporary natural environment.
Also during his tenure at HMNS, Dr. Bakker has lead the investigation of Leonardo, a mummified dinosaur with preserved skin that is now display at HMNS. He leads the museum’s paleontology field program, currently digging for pre-dinosaur, Permian-era species including dimetrodon in the Texas Red Beds of Seymour, Texas.
Bakker is passionate about teaching paleontology to children and is known for his animated talks that incorporate large interactive illustrations that are awarded to those who answer questions. Bakker is among the advisors for the Jurassic Park® films, and the character Dr. Robert Burke in The Lost World: Jurassic Park is based on him.
While an undergraduate at Yale, Bakker held many small part-time jobs as a scientific illustrator and helped with children’s programs at the university’s museum. After earning his Ph.D. from Harvard, he taught anatomy to pre-med students at Johns Hopkins University. Bakker then ventured west to teach at the University of Colorado, which led to his career in paleontology and museums.
Bakker’s paleontological field work includes sites in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Mongolia, Zimbabwe, Canada, and now Texas.
Dr. Carolyn Sumners is a pioneer in space education. Her tenure at HMNS includes training NASA astronauts on star fields in the museum’s Burke Baker Planetarium, developing the Expedition Center (formerly Challenger Center) which takes students on missions to the Moon and Mars, designing portable planetariums to bring the wonders of the museum to students unable to travel to the museum on field trips, and upgraded the Burke Baker Planetarium to be the first 8K planetarium in the world.
A practicing archaeo-astronomer, Dr. Sumners maps the night at critical moments in history by researching historical accounts, and recreates the view on the planetarium dome. She has produced many planetarium shows based on her research including Mystery of the Christmas Star, Stars of the Pharaohs, Fate of the Maya and Night of the Titanic which have been viewed in planetariums all over the world.
Dr. Sumners is passionate about science education and providing children the inspiration to make their own discoveries. “Kids can discover what’s out there in space with their own eyes at the George Observatory, experience virtual manned space flight in the Expedition Center, and imagine how science will advance future space exploration in the Burke Baker Planetarium,” said Sumners, “at the museum, we want to inspire children to pursue science, to help create the future they will be living in.”
She previously led the museum’s HISD, scouts and youth programming. She has also led numerous astronomical HMNS Travel Programs to see Haley’s Comet, the Northern Lights in Iceland and Norway, and solar eclipses on every continent.
Dr. Sumners also serves as an adjunct professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University. She has written trade books, a textbook series and dozens of planetarium shows. She is often interviewed by media on current astronomy events.
Venues
- Burke Baker Planetarium
- Expedition Center
- Discovery Dome
- George Observatory
After receiving a biology degree from the University of Texas, Celeste worked a variety of jobs reflecting her love for nature. She began working in the Cockrell Butterfly Center in 2012 and is now the Insect Zoo Manager. When she’s not caring for the CBC’s live bug collection, she’s teaching others to love and appreciate bugs!
Birds, mammals, herps and fish – Dr. Brooks oversees the museum’s vertebrate zoology collection of over 5,000 specimens. The majority represents the Texas coastal bend region but also includes Africa, Latin America, threatened and endangered species, and select taxonomic groups.
Dr. Brooks is dedicated to encouraging and facilitating the use of the collections for research by students, scholars and scientists. Generous with his time, he mentors students at every level – post docs to high school with their research projects. Brooks also leads the Texas Invasive Bird Project, a citizen-science project that tracks the status of invasive or introduced species of birds in the state of Texas, as well as the Houston Urban Wildlife Project, a collaborative effort to study animal species in our urban neighborhoods.
Houston Urban Wildlife Project
Dr. Brooks led the design of the Farish Hall of Texas Wildlife and Frensley/Graham Hall of African Wildlife. He also contributes to the museum’s temporary exhibit offerings, some of which have traveled to other institutions.
Having done field work all over the world, Dr. Brooks’ research covers numerous topics and taxa. He has concentrated much of his work on community ecology, as well as natural history and conservation of Neotropical birds and mammals, especially the Peruvian Amazon, Paraguayan Chaco and eastern Bolivian panhandle.
Dr. Brooks actively publishes his research. He has written numerous books, book chapters, and published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Brooks earned his Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fish. Science, Texas A&M University after he received his master’s degree in biology from Texas Tech and bachelor’s degree in zoology from State University of New York at Oswego. He was named the HMNS curator of vertebrate zoology in 1999.
Exhibit Halls
“My ultimate goal in any project is to inspire a love of science,” says David Temple. “Paleontology is a topic that universally gets students excited. It is also multidisciplinary, meaning that virtually all of the sciences contribute to our understanding of the ancient past. So, students are not only excited about dinosaurs but also chemistry, physics, math, statistics, biology and other fields they may not have previously thought of as ‘neato,’ ‘groovy’ or even ‘cool.’”
As associate curator of paleontology, David Temple leads the museum’s fossil preparation program. He oversaw the building of the fossil prep lab inside the Morian Hall of Paleontology which allows visitors to watch and interact with those working in the lab. Temple trains volunteers to work on museum projects, and also welcomes students of all ages to try their hand in the lab in fossil prep classes.
To learn more about the museum’s collections, Temple works with world-leading researchers to apply the latest technologies on fossils. Important discoveries have been made using specialized imaging techniques to uncover details hidden in plain light. Exciting discoveries include feathers on dinosaur specimens.
Temple developed the Museum’s current paleontology field program. His team excavates a Permian locality in North Texas, looking for fossils of Dimetrodon, the most fearsome pre-dinosaur predator, as well as every other sign of life, to more accurately reconstruct the 250-million-year-old ecosystem. The program is collecting display-quality Permian-era specimens and creating original scientific interpretation of these species. A goal of this work is also promoting the idea of “citizen science,” in which scientists collaborate with science-loving volunteers, students and teachers.
Formally trained as an archaeologist, Temple has studied a wide range of subjects, and has curated exhibitions ranging from Gold! Natural Treasure, Cultural Obsession and Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World to exhibits featuring topics like amber, lizards and snakes. He has created innovative interpretation techniques, such as using live actors to portrait passengers on the Titanic, and developed a short play about the discovery of the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Prior to being appointed associate curator of paleontology, David Temple has served as HMNS curator of the education collections, director of education and director of volunteers. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Museum Studies, with an additional emphasis on paleontological collections and programming. He feels privileged to have worked with all previous paleontology curators on various projects, and to work with Dr. Robert T. Bakker, curator of paleontology.
Exhibits
- Morian Hall of Paleontology
Dr. Van Tuerenhout joined the museum staff as curator of anthropology in 1999. He earned Master’s degrees in ancient history, as well as art history and archaeology, both from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He also holds a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Tulane University.
Together with his colleagues, he takes care of the museum’s human-made artifacts, both those in storage and on display. He has worked on permanent and temporary exhibits. Among the former is the renovated John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas, which opened to the public in 2022. The central message of this exhibit is one that Indigenous people want all of us to know: “We were here. We are still here.” Collaboration with Indigenous advisors resulted in a respectful representation of Indigenous cultures, past and present. Belongings, video materials, as well as photos and dioramas, immerse visitors in the experiences of the people who have inhabited this part of the world since time immemorial. Ongoing collaboration with Indigenous advisors ensures that this Hall of the Americas is a living hall, and that the voices of those who are still here continue to be heard.
Dr. Van Tuerenhout also curated the section on human evolution in the Morian Hall of Paleontology. The story of humankind starts about 6 million years ago in Africa and continues to the earliest evidence of human presence in what is now called the Americas. In that sense, the display in this hall dovetails with that of the Hall of the Americas, where we present the story of Paleoindian presence up to contemporary Indigenous people.
Among the temporary exhibits he curated are Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia (2007). This exhibit was organized at the request of the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. We benefited from collaboration with the staff at Ethiopia’s National Museum. Dr. Donald Johanson, who discovered Lucy, provided valuable support and insights.
The alleged end of the world in 2012, and the supposed connection with Maya culture, provided an educational opportunity to set the record straight. The exhibit, Maya 2012: Prophecy becomes History, told the story of pre-Contact Maya society, and continued it up until today. Most importantly, it ended with a reminder that the world would continue well past 2012. And here we are.
La Virgen de Guadalupe: Empress of the Americas (2015) highlighted the well-known image of the Virgin. The clash between two worlds, that of the Spanish Conquistadors and that of pre-Contact civilizations in the Americas, formed the backdrop to the story. It started with the conquest of Spain by the Moors in 711 AD, continued with Mexica culture and its conquest by the Spanish, the colonial period, and ended with contemporary expressions of veneration of the Virgin.
Temporary exhibits include The Dead Sea Scrolls (2004), Mummy: The Inside Story (2005), Imperial Rome (2007), Secrets of the Silk Road (2010), The Cave Paintings of Lascaux and Magna Carta (2014), and Pompeii: The Exhibition (2020).
Dr. Van Tuerenhout is the official NAGPRA contact at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
For NAGPRA-related inquiries, please contact Dr. Van Tuerenhout at NAGPRA at HMNS.org
For general anthropology-related questions, please contact Dr. Van Tuerenhout at Dirk at HMNS.org
Exhibits
John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas
Morian Hall of Paleontology, Human Evolution section
Emma began her journey at the Cockrell Butterfly Center as an Entomology Intern in 2020. After completing her bachelors in biology at Austin College, she continued to seek out roles in animal care with a focus on invertebrates. In 2023, she returned to the Houston Museum of Natural Science as a full time Butterfly Biologist. Emma now spends her days looking after the thousands of butterflies housed in our indoor tropical rainforest exhibit.
Emma joined the HMNS Outreach team as an Education Programs Facilitator in April of 2024. Even with her background in Biology, Emma says nothing could have prepared her for the incredible opportunities to handle amazing animals and educate the public about the natural sciences. She says, “Not only do I have the privilege to teach, but also get the opportunity to learn from some interesting and accomplished individuals here at HMNS. That is an adventure in and of itself!
After receiving a marine biology degree from Texas A&M Galveston, Gabriela has worked a variety of different jobs that showcased her love of animals. She has been at HMNS since 2023 taking care of the museum's program animals such as snakes, mammals, and birds. She also takes care of the animals within the museum's special exhibits which includes, Sharks! The Meg, The Monsters & The Myths and Death by Natural Causes.
Gabriela’s love for collections begun when her Father found some pre-Columbian pieces while digging a water hole. With pieces in hand, she convinced her elementary school director to set up a small display case for other kids to contribute their own treasures for classes. The passion for collections, and to learn about the people who created them and the stories behind them, continues to this day. Gabriela has been caring for collections for more than forty years at various museums in Texas.
She worked on the installation of the recently renovated John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas, which included gathering and collaborating with our Indigenous Advisory Group, as well as several Indigenous artists, who are not only brilliant but wonderful partners, to create commissions for the new hall, affirming the theme of the hall, “We Were Here, We Are All Still Here.”
Gabriela was recently appointed as the inaugural Director of the newly formed Office of Indigenous Community Relations. HMNS has set up this new department to facilitate communication and collaboration with our current and future Indigenous partners and colleagues. As the Director of this new department, Gabriela is the point person organizing outreach, coordinating events, gathering feedback, and ensuring mutual understanding with our current and future Indigenous partners and colleagues.
After growing up at HMNS and spending years taking homeschool classes at the museum and then becoming a summer employee, Harry was hired full-time as a Youth Education Programs Facilitator in 2018. He teaches labs and outreach, assists in the HMNS overnights programs, and helps with the HMNS summer camps. He says the best part about this job is that it’s something different every day which provides a great opportunity to learn not only for the kids, but for himself as well.
Henry has been an HMNS docent since July 2019 and has Co-Chaired the Docent-to-Go program and presented since January 2022. In addition to Docents to Go, he leads tours in the Wiess Energy Hall, the Morian Hall of Paleontology and the new Matter & Motion Hall here at HMNS. Before he retired in 2018, he worked in Houston for 42 years as a mechanical engineer working with and designing oil field downhole equipment for drilling, fishing (equipment retrieval) and completion operations.
Native Texan and longtime Houstonian, Joel Bartsch was first hired as a security guard at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 1984, and was appointed president and CEO in 2004.
Since Bartsch’s appointment as president, the museum has doubled its membership and annual attendance. To accommodate this demand, Bartsch conceived and spearheaded an $85,000,000 capital campaign to build a 204,000 square feet addition. The Dan L Duncan wing opened in 2012 and doubled the size of the exhibition space and tripled the classroom and education support space to accommodate the 500,000 school children who visit HMNS every year.
He has played key roles in developing temporary, special exhibitions and permanent exhibit halls. He led the design and installation of the internationally-renowned Wiess Energy Hall which opened in 2013. To complement the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals, Bartsch has expanded the museum’s educational displays with the addition of the Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault and Dorothy and Artie McFerrin Faberge Gallery.
Bartsch graduated from Lamar High School in Houston, Texas, studied mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and received his Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University at Austin, Texas. He holds a master’s degree in the history of science from Rice University where he is currently a PhD candidate. His museum career has included positions at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin, the Lyman Museum in Hilo, Hawaii and California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa, California. In 1991 Bartsch returned to HMNS as curator of Earth sciences. He was later appointed curator of gems and minerals, a position he has retained during his tenure as museum president.
A leading expert on the Aztecs of Mexico, their history, religion, economics, culture and communication system, including their writing system, Jerome A. (Jerry) Offner “wrote the book” on the Aztec legal system.
Dr. Offner began working as a volunteer with the museum in 1984. As associate curator of northern Mesoamerica, Offner contributes to the exhibits in the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas, and has curated numerous special exhibitions.
Reflecting on their importance, Offner shares that “museums are essential in providing hands-on experience and interaction with actual objects in our increasingly virtual, digital world. They anchor us to what is real and at the same time provide inspiration for childhood intellectual development as well as lifelong learning.”
Dr. Offner specializes in rare manuscripts, or codices, created by Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs before and after the Conquest of 1519 AD. He leads an international team in the investigation of the greatest of the Aztec pictorial histories – the Codex Xolotl from the city of Texcoco, which is kept in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris.
Illustrated in considerable detail on pages of native paper, more than 260 years of history before 1431 AD are documented in Codex Xolotl. The paintings record migrations, invasions, wars, marriages, births and lives in the histories of the many different peoples who came to be known as the Aztecs in what is now the central part of Mexico. including the remarkable life of Nezahualcoyotl who ruled that city 1431-1472 AD.
Dr. Offner is author of the Howard F. Cline Memorial Prize-winning book Law and Politics in Aztec Texcoco. Supported in part by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the National Science Centre of Poland, his latest co-edited book is Indigenous Graphic Communication Systems: A Theoretical Approach. His important research has been published in numerous other books and scholarly articles.
Dr. Offner reads, writes or speaks English, Spanish, French, Latin, ancient Greek and classical Nahuatl, the language of the Nahua (Aztecs) of Mexico. He is also an expert in contemporary masks and textiles of Mexico, with additional interests in Africa and the ancient Mediterranean.
A graduate of the University of Chicago, Jerry Offner earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. from Yale University. He has been awarded grants by the National Science Foundation, Doherty Foundation and Fulbright program.
Exhibit Halls
- John P. McGoven Hall of the Americas
As a kid, Lauren visited the Cockrell Butterfly Center when it first opened in 1994. She instantly fell in love with the butterflies and frequently returned throughout her childhood. She continually became more curious about insects and their relatives during her visits, influencing her to pursue a degree in entomology. After graduating from Texas A&M University, Lauren joined the museum staff as the butterfly entomologist. In this role she was charged with keeping the rainforest exhibit stocked with healthy, happy butterflies.
Lauren is now Director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center, the very place that first inspired her career path. Though she still has time to play with the butterflies, she spends most of her time working to maintain and enhance the facility, displays and overall guest experience.
Lauren’s mission is to ensure that the exhibit continues to spark curiosity and excitement within every guest who visits, in turn fostering a greater appreciation for the animals often disregarded as creepy, crawly pests. She is the author of The Backyard Bug Book for Kids: Storybook, Insect Facts, and Activities and Butterflies for Kids: A Junior Scientist’s Guide to the Butterfly Life Cycle and Beautiful Species to Discover.
Lauren Davidson enjoys bringing her bug friends on field trips to visit schools and other venues as part of the museum’s Bugs on Wheels Outreach Program. She has presented to thousands of children and adults in the Houston area.
Ever since she held a tarantula for the first time, Melissa knew this was the job for her. Aside from presenting wildlife outreach programs, Melissa also cares for animals such as alligators, degus, and caecilians here at HMNS.
Dr. Michelle Marlar is an Egyptologist who works as the Director of Egyptian Archaeological Missions at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). In this role, she serves as co-director of the joint American-Egyptian mission at the New Kingdom Memphis Hathor temple located in Mit Rahina, Egypt. Since the spring of 2022, this mission has worked to conserve, document, and excavate the Hathor temple, which, once it is fully exposed, will be developed to enrich the experience of the millions of tourists who visit Memphis every year.
Dr. Marlar earned her bachelor's degree in Archaeology from Baylor University, a master's degree in Ancient Egyptian Art & Archaeology from The University of Memphis, and a PhD in Ancient Egyptian Archaeology and Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University under the direction of Dr. David O'Connor. She has been working in Egypt since 2001, initially with a focus on the Osiris Temple in Abydos, Egypt which involved the documentation and conservation of artifacts recovered during her excavations at the temple site. She has taught and lectured about various aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization and material culture at several schools and colleges in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas.
As vice president of education, Nicole Temple’s responsibilities include all facets of the museum associated with the nearly 400,000 students that participate in HMNS programming annually. She participates in the development of exhibitions and occasionally serves as curator for special exhibitions, most notably Magna Carta, Block Party and Death by Natural Causes.
Due to the nature of the museum and its programming, Temple’s skills run the gamut and include everything from curriculum development to taxidermy. During her tenure at HMNS, she has grown the museum’s educational offerings, including the highly-regarded summer camp program. She presents in the museum’s teacher workshops, lecture series and webcasts, and has also led trips for the museum’s travel program and created content for giant-screen films.
Before joining the museum staff, Temple taught a variety of subjects in public high schools. She earned undergraduate degrees in education and English literature and language, as well as a graduate degree in education, all from the University of Kansas.
Sarahjane is an outreach presenter and teaches weekday labs at the HMNS. She loves getting kids excited about science and history and getting to learn and experience new things at work every day.
As consulting curator of Egyptology, Tom Hardwick coordinates the artifacts on display and in the Hall of Ancient Egypt at HMNS. This requires managing loans from dozens of institutions and private individuals around the globe. Tom resides in Cairo, Egypt and travels to Houston several times a year.
Tom brings his unique expertise in Egyptian art, the history of collecting, and in the forgery of works of art to HMNS.
His previous positions include keeper of Egyptology at Bolton Museum in the UK, a researcher in the Wilbour Library of Egyptology at the Brooklyn Museum, and as Egyptologist in the Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo. He studied Egyptology as an undergraduate and postgraduate at the University of Oxford.
Tom Hardwick enjoys sharing his love of Egyptian art and history with museum visitors and travelers who visit Egypt with the HMNS Travel Program.
Exhibit Halls
- Hall of Ancient Egypt
Whether octopus, squid, bivalve or gastropod, all mollusks tug on the heartstrings of native Houstonian Tina Petway, who was named associate curator of malacology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 2005.
The HMNS Malacology collection has grown over the past few years and is now the largest of the Museum’s Collections. HMNS is the home of the extensive and irreplaceable collection known as the Northwest Gulf of Mexico Survey of Marine Mollusks and the world-renowned Guido Poppé Collection of Philippine Shells. This, as well as many other holdings of specimens, are being used by various researchers to further our understand of the importance of these animals and their relevance to the environment.
Tina’s mission is to help others understand the value of preserving and protecting the habitats in which these animals live. “They are not just pretty to look at, but the animals that construct the shells and those which have no shell are important to our existence. Not only are they a source of food for most of the world, but what we are learning from them could hold cures for illnesses, pain relief without addiction and many others.”
Tina Petway is an active member of many international malacology organizations, including the Houston Shell Club. She is passionate about sharing the natural history and ecology of the Gulf Coast with museum visitors and those who participate in HMNS Day Excursions to local beaches.
Exhibit Halls
- George W. Strake Hall of Malacology
- Hamman Hall of Texas Coastal Ecology
- Gems of the Sea: The Guido T. Poppe Collection