In the Lab

Dr. Gabriella Wolff is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Arizona and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Washington. Her research interests include insect sensing and evolution of learning and memory brain structures in insects, crustaceans, and arachnids.

Dr. Nicole Burt is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Senior Director of Curatorial and Research Affairs. In this role, Dr. Burt leads the formulation, coordination, and execution of all science-based research and initiatives at the Museum, guiding the organization’s curatorial vision and strategic direction in the Science and Conservation Division (Curatorial, Natural Areas, and Astronomy).

Dr. Burt works to deepen the impact of Museum research programs and enhance collection stewardship. A key part of this role involves fostering a culture of communication and collaboration across the organization, promoting excellence and innovation in natural history scholarship. Dr. Burt’s leadership is instrumental in strengthening partnerships with universities, research institutions, and government agencies, while supporting learning opportunities for aspiring scientists.

Dr. Burt first joined the Museum as its Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine in 2014. This role was part of the legacy of the Museum’s 2007 merger with HealthSpace Cleveland, which made human health a cornerstone of the Museum’s mission and programming. Dr. Burt facilitates the Museum’s ongoing commitment and connection to Cleveland’s medical and health communities. She is an advocate for fostering equitable partnerships between scientists, museums, and the communities with whom they work.

Dr. Burt is a biological anthropologist who works with both archaeological and modern human populations. Her research centers around the question, “What does it mean to be healthy?” and utilizes the best research and educational practices to promote understanding and empower the Museum community to take action. Her interdisciplinary approach combines many methods, including histology, stable isotope analysis, and even interviews, to explore health through the lens of evolutionary medicine. In addition to her anthropological research, Dr. Burt contributes to the literature on bioethics in museums, informal learning pedagogy, and creating evolutionary medicine-informed curricula for medical education. Dr. Burt earned her Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Alberta, a master's degree in forensic science from Michigan State University, and a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Beloit College.

Research areas: Diet and health, food access, bioethics, early-childhood feeding practice, osteology, stable isotope reconstruction, methods testing, informal learning pedagogy

Kelly Tapager Fox is a Collections Manager at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. She has a master’s degree in bioarchaeology, specializing in human and animal skeletal remains, and has worked on archaeological sites on the East Coast and in England. She is currently overseeing the inventory and move of the Museum’s extensive archaeological collections.

Dr. Emma Finestone uses archaeological fieldwork to investigate adaptive shifts in the human lineage that relate to the early manufacture and use of stone tools. The origins of toolmaking have important implications for our ancestors’ relationship with their environment and their ability to forage for a wide range of food resources. Dr. Finestone’s field projects in eastern Africa span evolutionary changes over the past 3 million years and focus on reconstructing the mobility, range expansion, and landscape use of toolmakers to illuminate how early tool technology facilitated the spread of human ancestors around the globe. She studies some of the earliest-known stone tools, which our ancient relatives transported over long distances and used to butcher hippos more than 2.6 million years ago. Her work has received awards from the National Science Foundation, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the Journal of Human Evolution, and the American Association of Biological Anthropologists.

Dr. Finestone is passionate about science communication and outreach. She is enthusiastic about sharing international fieldwork in human origins with the Cleveland community. Before joining the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as Assistant Curator of Human Origins, Dr. Finestone served as Group Leader of Archaeology and Head of the Archaeology Laboratory Unit at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. Previously, she served as an instructor at Lehman College and Hunter College and as a research affiliate of the National Museums of Kenya.

Dr. Finestone received her Ph.D. in biological anthropology in 2019 from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. Prior to her time at CUNY, she worked in the Conservation and Science Department at the Lincoln Park Zoo studying the foraging and tool behaviors of chimpanzees and gorillas. Dr. Finestone earned a B.A. with honors in anthropology and biology from the University of Chicago in 2010.

Research areas: Oldowan, paleoanthropology, lithic analysis, hominin evolution

Dr. Nicole Burt is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Senior Director of Curatorial and Research Affairs. In this role, Dr. Burt leads the formulation, coordination, and execution of all science-based research and initiatives at the Museum, guiding the organization’s curatorial vision and strategic direction in the Science and Conservation Division (Curatorial, Natural Areas, and Astronomy).

Dr. Burt works to deepen the impact of Museum research programs and enhance collection stewardship. A key part of this role involves fostering a culture of communication and collaboration across the organization, promoting excellence and innovation in natural history scholarship. Dr. Burt’s leadership is instrumental in strengthening partnerships with universities, research institutions, and government agencies, while supporting learning opportunities for aspiring scientists.

Dr. Burt first joined the Museum as its Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine in 2014. This role was part of the legacy of the Museum’s 2007 merger with HealthSpace Cleveland, which made human health a cornerstone of the Museum’s mission and programming. Dr. Burt facilitates the Museum’s ongoing commitment and connection to Cleveland’s medical and health communities. She is an advocate for fostering equitable partnerships between scientists, museums, and the communities with whom they work.

Dr. Burt is a biological anthropologist who works with both archaeological and modern human populations. Her research centers around the question, “What does it mean to be healthy?” and utilizes the best research and educational practices to promote understanding and empower the Museum community to take action. Her interdisciplinary approach combines many methods, including histology, stable isotope analysis, and even interviews, to explore health through the lens of evolutionary medicine. In addition to her anthropological research, Dr. Burt contributes to the literature on bioethics in museums, informal learning pedagogy, and creating evolutionary medicine-informed curricula for medical education. Dr. Burt earned her Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Alberta, a master's degree in forensic science from Michigan State University, and a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Beloit College.

Research areas: Diet and health, food access, bioethics, early-childhood feeding practice, osteology, stable isotope reconstruction, methods testing, informal learning pedagogy

Dr. Caitlin Colleary is a vertebrate paleontologist with expertise in the molecules that preserve in fossilized bone. She is particularly interested in the question, "What is a fossil?" In the last few decades, it has become clear that this question is much more nuanced than previously considered, and that original biological information has the potential to preserve on long timescales.

Dr. Colleary explores how incorporating new techniques and technology can make it possible to uncover information previously inaccessible. She is especially interested in fossils that are not considered to be exceptionally preserved, such as bones and teeth, which are commonly found in the fossil record but may still contain biomolecules. She examines preserved proteins in fossil bone, contributing new data to the study of ancient animals. As a Museum scientist, she is building resources that will contribute to the advancement of molecular paleontology studies now and in the future.

Dr. Colleary started her academic journey at Los Angeles Valley College and transferred to UCLA, where she received a B.A. in anthropology. She received her M.Sc. in paleobiology from the University of Bristol and her Ph.D. in geosciences from Virginia Tech. Before joining the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in January 2020, she was the Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute.

Research areas: proteomics, museomics, paleontology, taphonomy, fossilization

Kim Fraser has a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. During graduate school, she used microscopy and data science to understand the properties of many materials. She has been working at the Lubrizol Corporation for four years as a subject matter expert in microscopy.

Dr. Nicole Burt is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Senior Director of Curatorial and Research Affairs. In this role, Dr. Burt leads the formulation, coordination, and execution of all science-based research and initiatives at the Museum, guiding the organization’s curatorial vision and strategic direction in the Science and Conservation Division (Curatorial, Natural Areas, and Astronomy).

Dr. Burt works to deepen the impact of Museum research programs and enhance collection stewardship. A key part of this role involves fostering a culture of communication and collaboration across the organization, promoting excellence and innovation in natural history scholarship. Dr. Burt’s leadership is instrumental in strengthening partnerships with universities, research institutions, and government agencies, while supporting learning opportunities for aspiring scientists.

Dr. Burt first joined the Museum as its Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine in 2014. This role was part of the legacy of the Museum’s 2007 merger with HealthSpace Cleveland, which made human health a cornerstone of the Museum’s mission and programming. Dr. Burt facilitates the Museum’s ongoing commitment and connection to Cleveland’s medical and health communities. She is an advocate for fostering equitable partnerships between scientists, museums, and the communities with whom they work.

Dr. Burt is a biological anthropologist who works with both archaeological and modern human populations. Her research centers around the question, “What does it mean to be healthy?” and utilizes the best research and educational practices to promote understanding and empower the Museum community to take action. Her interdisciplinary approach combines many methods, including histology, stable isotope analysis, and even interviews, to explore health through the lens of evolutionary medicine. In addition to her anthropological research, Dr. Burt contributes to the literature on bioethics in museums, informal learning pedagogy, and creating evolutionary medicine-informed curricula for medical education. Dr. Burt earned her Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Alberta, a master's degree in forensic science from Michigan State University, and a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Beloit College.

Research areas: Diet and health, food access, bioethics, early-childhood feeding practice, osteology, stable isotope reconstruction, methods testing, informal learning pedagogy