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 is interested in how incorporating new techniques and technology can make it possible to examine fossils at the molecular scale, uncovering information previously inaccessible. She has studied pigment preservation in fossilized soft tissues and integument. She is particularly interested in fossils that are not considered to be exceptionally preserved, like bones and teeth, which are commonly found in the fossil record but may also contain soft tissues. Discovering and studying soft tissues and molecular data in the fossil record have the potential to expand what we currently know about ancient animals.
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.S. in paleobiology from the University of Bristol and her Ph.D. in geosciences from Virginia Tech. Before joining the Museum in January 2020, she was the Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute.
