Amy Atwater

Amy Atwater
Atwater with fossil bird tracks
Education
Scientific career
Workplaces

Amy Atwater is an American author, paleontologist, and science communicator. She runs a popular paleontology themed science communication social media page on Instagram under the handle "mary_annings_revenge", inspired by the 18th century paleontologist Mary Anning. Atwater is the first-ever Director of Paleontology of the Morrison, CO based non-profit organization Friends of Dinosaur Ridge home of North America's most visited in-situ dinosaur track site at Dinosaur Ridge which is a part of the Morrison-Golden Fossil Areas National Natural Landmark. Atwater is an expert in mammalian evolution and described three new omomyine (primates, haplorhini) taxa from the Eocene Friars Formation of Southern California as well as research on Proboscidea, Borophagine, geochronology, and the effects of topography and climate change on mammal diversity. Atwater was named as president-elect of the Colorado Scientific Society in 2025.

Career

Atwater received her B.S. in geological sciences: Paleontology Track with a minor in anthropology in 2013 from the University of Oregon Clark Honors College. She earned a M.A. in anthropology in 2017 as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow from the University of Texas at Austin by publishing her thesis titled "New Middle Eocene omomyines (primates, haplorhini) from the Friars Formation of San Diego County, California"

Atwater has worked for the National Park Service as scientist and park ranger in Arches NP, Denali NP, Big Bend NP, and John Day Fossil Beds. Atwater worked as the Paleontological Collections Manager for the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman Montana from 2017 until 2021. Atwater has worked for the United States Geological Survey as a Curator and Museum Specialist for the Geologic Materials Repository. Atwater has worked for Sternberg Museum Science Camps as an instructor.[citation needed]

Atwater is the author of the popular children's book The Fossil Keeper's Treasure in collaboration with illustrator Natalia Cardozo, published by Magic Cat Publishing.

Media and podcasts

Atwater has had many media appearances as an author, paleontologist and science communicator, which include being featured in video and television appearances for C-SPAN, PBS – EONS, PBS, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and local programing. Atwater has a portrait featured in the Bearded Lady Project museum exhibit and book. Atwater has been interviewed as a paleontologist and science communicator for many podcasts and web series. Atwater has been feature in The Colorado Magazine, The New York Times, and Huffington Post. Atwater has written articles for the Geological Society of America, Palaeo-Electronica, and the National Park Service. Atwater currently co-hosts the podcast Weird & Dead with Dr. Meaghan Wetherell .

Selected works

References

  1. 1 2 Atwater, Amy; Cardozo, Nat; Williams, Rachel (2025). The fossil keeper's treasure: with amazing fossils to touch. New York: Magic Cat Publishing. ISBN 978-1-917044-26-4.
  2. ↑ "Amy Atwater". www.huffpost.com. HuffPost. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  3. ↑ "We Tested Nearly 200 Books to Find the Best Kids' Books of the Year". Good Housekeeping. October 23, 2025. Archived from the original on November 12, 2025. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Amy L. Atwater". scholar.google.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Amy Atwater". ORCID. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  6. ↑ Inside the Dinosaur Library. PBS Eons. April 2, 2018. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025 – via YouTube.
  7. 1 2 "Amy Atwater". www.c-span.org. C-SPAN.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Staff". Dinosaur Ridge. Archived from the original on January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  9. ↑ Singer, Daliah (February 5, 2024). "A new generation of Colorado paleontologists has been unearthed". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on January 17, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  10. ↑ "About". Dinosaur Ridge. Archived from the original on January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  11. ↑ Atwater, Amy L.; Kirk, E. Christopher (November 1, 2018). "New middle Eocene omomyines (Primates, Haplorhini) from San Diego County, California". Journal of Human Evolution. 124: 7–24. Bibcode:2018JHumE.124....7A. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.04.010. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 30149995. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  12. ↑ McDonald, Andrew T.; Atwater, Amy L.; Dooley, Alton C. Jr.; Hohman, Charlotte J. H. (November 16, 2020). "The easternmost occurrence of Mammut pacificus (Proboscidea: Mammutidae), based on a partial skull from eastern Montana, USA". PeerJ. 8 e10030. doi:10.7717/peerj.10030. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7676352. PMID 33240588.
  13. ↑ Atwater, Amy L.; Austin, Kelly D.; Kirk, E. Christopher; Emery-Wetherel, Meaghan; Wetherell, Logan; Stockli, Daniel F. (February 24, 2020). "Geochronology of the middle Eocene Purple Bench Locality (Devil's Graveyard Formation), Trans-Pecos Texas". Palaeontologia Electronica. doi:10.26879/993. Archived from the original on February 9, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  14. ↑ Atwater, Amy Lynn; Davis, Edward Byrd (2011). "Topographic and climate change differentially drive Pliocene and Pleistocene mammalian beta diversity of the Great Basin and Great Plains provinces of North America". Evolutionary Ecology Research. 13 (8): 833–850. ISSN 1522-0613. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015.
  15. ↑ Kidd, Kristen (January 27, 2025). "Dino Ridge's First-Ever Director of Paleontology, Amy Atwater, Named President-Elect of the Colorado Scientific Society". Dinosaur Ridge. Archived from the original on February 12, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Officers/Committee Members/Councilors". Colorado Scientific Society. Archived from the original on February 26, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  17. ↑ "People". UO Vertebrate Paleontology Lab. February 9, 2015. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  18. ↑ Atwater, Amy Lynn (May 17, 2017). "New Middle Eocene omomyines (primates, haplorhini) from the Friars Formation of San Diego County, Southern California". doi:10.26153/tsw/2222 (inactive September 21, 2025). Archived from the original on August 4, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2025 (link)
  19. ↑ Atwater, Amy (2017). New Middle Eocene Omomyines (Primates, Haplorhini) from the Friars Formation of San Diego County, Southern California (M.A. thesis). University of Texas at Austin. doi:10.26153/tsw/2222 (inactive September 21, 2025). Retrieved January 17, 2024.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2025 (link)
  20. ↑ Atwater, Amy (October 25, 2013). "My Life as a GeoCorps Participant at Denali National Park and Preserve". Speaking of Geoscience: The Geological Society of America Guest Blog. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  21. ↑ Atwater, Amy (July 19, 2013). "7 Myths About Paleontology". HuffPost. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Behind The Scenes". Big Bend Fossil Discovery. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Thirty-five-years of partnership: How the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service Co-manage Paleontological Resources in Eastern and Central Oregon (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  24. ↑ Ragar, Shaylee (June 25, 2019). "Going viral: Local paleontologist uses social media to inspire, reveal history". Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Amy Atwater". www.usgs.gov. U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  26. ↑ Eons – Inside the Dinosaur Library – Season 1 – Episode 36. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025 – via www.pbs.org.
  27. ↑ RMPBS Presents... – Dino Ridge Science Quiz Bowl 2024 – Season 2024. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025 – via www.pbs.org.
  28. ↑ "Mary Anning Found So Much More than Seashells by the Seashore – Detours – Prehistoric Road Trip". WTTW Chicago. June 7, 2020. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  29. ↑ Zialcita, Paolo (July 9, 2024). "Dinosaur Ridge's fossilized tracks are disappearing. Finding a solution has stakeholders between a rock and a hard place". Colorado Public Radio. Archived from the original on April 19, 2026. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  30. ↑ Marsh, Lexi Jamieson; Currano, Ellen; Vance, Kelsey; White, Draper, eds. (2020). The bearded lady project: challenging the face of science. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-19804-2. OCLC 1128193623.
  31. 1 2 St. Fleur, Nicholas (July 21, 2020). "A Paleontologist's Guide to Playing with Your Dinosaur-Obsessed Kid". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 12, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  32. ↑ Atwater, Amy; Emery, Meaghan (January 31, 2014). "Paleontology Interview: Gettin' Zeigy With It". HuffPost. Archived from the original on February 26, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  33. ↑ Atwater, Amy (July 19, 2013). "7 Myths About Paleontology". HuffPost. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  34. ↑ Atwater, Amy (September 23, 2013). "10 Tips for Aspiring Paleontologists". HuffPost. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  35. ↑ "October 2013". Speaking of Geoscience. Archived from the original on February 26, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  36. ↑ Atwater, Amy; Wetherell, Meaghan (January 24, 2024). "Weird & Dead Podcast". Archived from the original on July 3, 2026. Retrieved July 3, 2026.