Kenneth John Lacovara (born March 11, 1961) is an American

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents. ...

and fellow of the

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

, known for the discovery of the

titanosaur Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still th ...

ian

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

Dreadnoughtus ''Dreadnoughtus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, ''Dreadnoughtus schrani''. ''D. schrani'' is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian; approximately ...

'' and his involvement in the discovery and naming of the giant

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their bo ...

dinosaur ''

Paralititan ''Paralititan'' (meaning "tidal giant") was a giant titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur genus discovered in coastal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt. It lived between 99.6 and 93.5 million years ago.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2 ...

'', as well as his work applying

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...

technology to paleontology. Lacovara is the founder of th
Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University
in Mantua Township, New Jersey and a

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

speaker. He is author of the general-audience book, ''Why Dinosaurs Matter'' (2017), for which he received a Nautilus Book Award.http://www.snjtoday.com/story/38162555/rowan-university-paleontologist-wins-prestigious-nautilus-book-award Additionally, he serves as Paleontology Fellow of the

Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

. He is a recipient of the Explorers Club Medal, the highest honor bestowed by The Explorers Club.

Biography

Lacovara grew up in

Linwood, New Jersey Linwood is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 7,092,Mainland Regional High School Mainland Regional High School is a regional public high school and school district serving students in grades nine through twelve from the communities of Linwood, Northfield and Somers Point in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, servi ...

.Marino, Suzanne
"MRHS students dig the mighty tale of Dreadnoughtus discovery by alum"
, ''The Current'', February 24, 2015. Accessed June 10, 2015. "Mainland Regional High School can boast many successful alumnae. There are doctors, lawyers, politicians, NFL players, and Peace Corps volunteers, but Friday, Feb. 20, Ken Lacovara Ph.D., a paleontologist and possibly one of the most adventurous of the famous alums, stopped in to talk about what he has been up to since he left Mainland in 1978.... He graduated with honors from Rowan University in 1984. He was named Alumnus of the Year in 2002. He received a Master's degree in

Physical Geography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and a PhD in

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

in 1998. Professor of paleontology and geology at Rowan University, he is founding Dean of Rowan University's School of Earth & Environment and the founding Director of the Rowan Fossil Park. Formerly, Lacovara was a Professor of Biology at

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. ''

Discover Magazine ''Discover'' is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It has been owned by Kalmbach Publishing since 2010. History Founding ''Discover'' was created primarily through the efforts of ''Time'' mag ...

'' has three times listed his work in the "Top 100 Science Stories" of the year, for 2001, 2012, and 2014. He was a speaker at the 2016 TED and

INK Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...

conferences. Lacovara is known for his work in applying high-tech tools to dinosaur paleontology, including 3D scanning and 3D printing, and robotics. He is a resident of Swedesboro, New Jersey and a professional jazz drummer.

Discoveries

On September 4, 2014, Lacovara's discovery of the giant

, ''

Dreadnoughtus schrani ''Dreadnoughtus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, ''Dreadnoughtus schrani''. ''D. schrani'' is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian; approximately ...

'', was published by the journal ''

Scientific Reports ''Scientific Reports'' is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific mega journal published by Nature Portfolio, covering all areas of the natural sciences. The journal was established in 2011. The journal states that their aim is to assess solely th ...

'', making international headlines. It is the most complete skeleton of a giant titanosaur discovered to date. Lacovara was part of the team that discovered ''

Paralititan stromeri ''Paralititan'' (meaning "tidal giant") was a giant titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur genus discovered in coastal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt. It lived between 99.6 and 93.5 million years ago.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2 ...

'' in the

Bahariya Oasis El-Wahat el-Bahariya or el-Bahariya ( ar, الواحات البحرية "''El-Wāḥāt El-Baḥrīya''", "the Northern Oases"); is a Depression (geology), depression and a naturally rich oasis in the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in 2000. ''Paralititan'' was the first new dinosaur discovery in Egypt since the early 20th century and was featured in the 2-hour documentary ''

The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', narrated by

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

and produced by

Ann Druyan Ann Druyan ( ; born June 13, 1949) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning American documentary producer and director specializing in the communication of science. She co-wrote the 1980 PBS documentary series ''Cosmos'', hosted by Carl Sagan, ...

. The team published their findings in ''Science'' in 2001. The announcement of the new species was named by ''Discover Magazine'' as one of the "100 Top Science Stories of 2001". In China, Lacovara was part of a team that discovered multiple skeletons of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

(

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

) aquatic bird ''

Gansus ''Gansus'' is a genus of aquatic birds that lived during the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) period in what are now Gansu and Liaoning provinces, western China. The rock layers from which their fossils have been recovered are d ...

yumenensis''. ''Gansus'' filled an important gap in bird evolution, and the team published their result in ''Science'' in 2006. Lacovara was also a member of the team that discovered '' Suzhousaurus megatherioides'', a

therizinosauroid Therizinosaurs (once called segnosaurs) were large herbivorous theropod dinosaurs whose fossils have been found across the Early to Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia and North America. Various features of the forelimbs, skull and pelvis unite t ...

from the

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

of the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University

Lacovara is the founding Director of the Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University, a 65-acre property in southern New Jersey that preserves a K/Pg bonebed of vertebrate fossils and serves as a site for

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

education and outreach.

Explorers Club Medal

In 2019 Lacovara received the Explorers Club's highest honor, th
Explorers Club Medal
, awarded for "extraordinary contributions directly in the field of exploration, scientific research, or to the welfare of humanity.". Previous recipients include Roy Chapman Andrews, Neil Armstrong, Jane Goodall, Edward O. Wilson, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Selected talks by Kenneth Lacovara

* La Ciudad de las Ideas, Puebla, Mexico - 2016 * INK, Goa, India - 2016 * TED Summit, Banff, Canada - 2016 * TED, Vancouver, Canada - 2016 * NASA New Horizons Flyby, Baltimore, USA - 2015 * TEDx Drexel, Philadelphia, USA - 2015 * Linda Hall Library of Science, Kansas City, USA - 2013 * iNatura, Dornbern, Austria - 2010 * Explorers Club Centennial Gala - 2004

Publications

* ''Why Dinosaurs Matter''. New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

/ TED Books, 2017. - winner of a Nautilus Silver Book Award.

References

External links

* *
TED Profile - Kenneth Lacovara

Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan university
page
Linda Hall Library of Science lecture: Next-Gen Paleontology

Discovery Channel, Daily Planet: Cretaceous Jersey Shore

* ttp://www.philly.com/philly/video/129767443.html Philadelphia Inquirer: Reconstructing a Fossil Turtle {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacovara, Ken Living people American paleontologists Mainland Regional High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Linwood, New Jersey People from Swedesboro, New Jersey Rowan University alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Delaware alumni Fellows of the Explorers Club 1961 births