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Personal website for Kiersten Formoso, Ph.D. | Vertebrate Paleobiologist & Functional Morphologist

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow | Dept. Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources | Rutgers University

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The independent documentary, Why Dinosaurs? had their Canadian Premiere in Drumheller, Alberta on August 31st. Kiersten attended and was part of the Q&A panel as a featured scientist in the film.

Kiersten accepted and started a Rutgers University Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, her undergrad Alma Mater department.

Kiersten was inducted into the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2023. Read more here!

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @Formorphology

Big Flip, Small Paleontologist.

Big Flip, Small Paleontologist.

Big fan of this mosasaur just on the side of the road. Vibing. Taken between Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Park during my trip to Alberta for some @whydinosaurs Canadian Premiere fun 🤍❤️

Big fan of this mosasaur just on the side of the road. Vibing. Taken between Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Park during my trip to Alberta for some @whydinosaurs Canadian Premiere fun 🤍❤️

A wonderful week of fossil finding, lizard holding, picture taking, and view enjoying at Ghost Ranch ✅️ The fossil is a Phytosaur femur, the lizard is a baby western fence lizard 💚

A wonderful week of fossil finding, lizard holding, picture taking, and view enjoying at Ghost Ranch ✅️ The fossil is a Phytosaur femur, the lizard is a baby western fence lizard 💚

One of the coolest natural history displays I've ever been to.
Comparative Anatomy (and thus paleontology) was born in #paris with Georges Cuvier.

One of the coolest natural history displays I've ever been to.
Comparative Anatomy (and thus paleontology) was born in #paris with Georges Cuvier.

Oh yeah, that's the good stuff 😍 State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart) marine reptile collections. Ichthyosaurs, marine crocs, plesiosaurs (and some fish).

Oh yeah, that's the good stuff 😍 State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart) marine reptile collections. Ichthyosaurs, marine crocs, plesiosaurs (and some fish).

Meuse River in Liège, Belgium! This is the river for which Mosasaurs are named! Mosasaurs = "Lizards of the Meuse River." And the city of Maastricht, Netherlands, where the first Mosasaur was found (Mosasaurus hoffmannii) is only ~30 km upriver. Had a great time at our meeting in Liège (SecAd) sharing my work on animals that ancestrally returned to the water with others who study the same.

Meuse River in Liège, Belgium! This is the river for which Mosasaurs are named! Mosasaurs = "Lizards of the Meuse River." And the city of Maastricht, Netherlands, where the first Mosasaur was found (Mosasaurus hoffmannii) is only ~30 km upriver. Had a great time at our meeting in Liège (SecAd) sharing my work on animals that ancestrally returned to the water with others who study the same.

Horseshoe crabs for the last 445 million years

Horseshoe crabs for the last 445 million years

Ph.D. Hooding Ceremony and graduation shots. Had to get one with the @NHMLA of course ❤️💛✌🏽

Ph.D. Hooding Ceremony and graduation shots. Had to get one with the @NHMLA of course ❤️💛✌🏽

This #ThrowbackThursday pic taken on the way to field work in Utah, Summer 2022. On my birthday as a matter of fact. A little roadside dinosaur park in the desert.

This #ThrowbackThursday pic taken on the way to field work in Utah, Summer 2022. On my birthday as a matter of fact. A little roadside dinosaur park in the desert.

Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur, and the largest known flying animal to ever exist.

Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur, and the largest known flying animal to ever exist.

#WhaleWednesday. These skulls belong to two early whales. Basilosaurus (top) and Rodhocetus (bottom). If you scroll you'll see the pelvic girdle of Rodhocetus which was still able to walk on land with four limbs, and then the floating pelvis and hindlimbs of Basilosaurus which no longer could.

#WhaleWednesday. These skulls belong to two early whales. Basilosaurus (top) and Rodhocetus (bottom). If you scroll you'll see the pelvic girdle of Rodhocetus which was still able to walk on land with four limbs, and then the floating pelvis and hindlimbs of Basilosaurus which no longer could.

My train is going through Kansas right now so #TylosaurusTuesday seemed apt. Tylosaurus, a genus of large mosasaurs, is the official state marine fossil of Kansas. Specimens like these two are found in the chalky Cretaceous Niobrara Formation. Bunker (first photo, cast) is on display on the Kansas University Natural History Musuem and the highly complete AMNH FR 221 (behind glass) is at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. This one even has soft tissues like cartilage preserved!

My train is going through Kansas right now so #TylosaurusTuesday seemed apt. Tylosaurus, a genus of large mosasaurs, is the official state marine fossil of Kansas. Specimens like these two are found in the chalky Cretaceous Niobrara Formation. Bunker (first photo, cast) is on display on the Kansas University Natural History Musuem and the highly complete AMNH FR 221 (behind glass) is at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. This one even has soft tissues like cartilage preserved!

Happy New Year 🥳 from Plotosaurus (mosasaur) and Morenosaurus (plesiosaur), both Pacific marine reptiles @nhmla.

#mosasaurmonday #marinereptilemonday

Happy New Year 🥳 from Plotosaurus (mosasaur) and Morenosaurus (plesiosaur), both Pacific marine reptiles @nhmla.

#mosasaurmonday #marinereptilemonday

400+ Dire Wolf skulls @thelabreatarpits 🐺 #fossilfriday

400+ Dire Wolf skulls @thelabreatarpits 🐺 #fossilfriday

After a great USC Bowl Game win yesterday how about a #ThrowbackThursday and #FightOn ✌🏽 to this lovely group of @uscdornsife alumni who got to see some of THE coolest @nhmla fossils (with my bias) up close and personal with me. What can you recognize on the tables?

They gave me that sweet USC bag for the gig ❤️💛

After a great USC Bowl Game win yesterday how about a #ThrowbackThursday and #FightOn ✌🏽 to this lovely group of @uscdornsife alumni who got to see some of THE coolest @nhmla fossils (with my bias) up close and personal with me. What can you recognize on the tables?

They gave me that sweet USC bag for the gig ❤️💛

Best Museum Dino Hall! Going to miss this view so much 😢 @nhmla

Best Museum Dino Hall! Going to miss this view so much 😢 @nhmla

🦝 Urban wildlife and cuteness overload 🦝

What an incredibly lucky catch. I almost walked by because I thought they were cats.

🦝 Urban wildlife and cuteness overload 🦝

What an incredibly lucky catch. I almost walked by because I thought they were cats.

Had the privilege of attending the Hollywood premiere of @whydinosaurs!

Really wonderful movie. A lot of heart and effort went into it and it shows. And I got to see myself on a big screen in a Hollywood theater and experience a little red carpet which was pretty awesome. Not a bad Hollywood hurrah for my last few months in LA ❤️ Congrats to all involved!

Had the privilege of attending the Hollywood premiere of @whydinosaurs!

Really wonderful movie. A lot of heart and effort went into it and it shows. And I got to see myself on a big screen in a Hollywood theater and experience a little red carpet which was pretty awesome. Not a bad Hollywood hurrah for my last few months in LA ❤️ Congrats to all involved!

Gave my SVP talk last week. And I REALLY loved that Torvosaurus in the Cincinnati Museum Center 😍🦖

But man, prepping for that Romer Talk was ROUGH, I won't lie. But it was a great session and I am honored to have been a part of it. I am genuinely so happy people enjoy my science and it opened new doors with cool new people. It was my final SVP talk as a student which is INSANE to think about.

Thank you @lady_naturalist for the photo(s) 🥰

Gave my SVP talk last week. And I REALLY loved that Torvosaurus in the Cincinnati Museum Center 😍🦖

But man, prepping for that Romer Talk was ROUGH, I won't lie. But it was a great session and I am honored to have been a part of it. I am genuinely so happy people enjoy my science and it opened new doors with cool new people. It was my final SVP talk as a student which is INSANE to think about.

Thank you @lady_naturalist for the photo(s) 🥰

Just cheesin' on #fossilfriday

Some @uscdornsife alumni are gonna get a really cool up close look at this stuff on Sunday at the @nhmla. All real fossils!

Just cheesin' on #fossilfriday

Some @uscdornsife alumni are gonna get a really cool up close look at this stuff on Sunday at the @nhmla. All real fossils!

Measuring so many seals 🦭 this week at the @nhmla. It's a Pinniped Palooza! On the table is a California sea lion and more Pithanotaria material (see my last post).

Measuring so many seals 🦭 this week at the @nhmla. It's a Pinniped Palooza! On the table is a California sea lion and more Pithanotaria material (see my last post).

This jumbled mass of bones belongs to Pithanotaria, an early Otariid otherwise known as eared seals-- think California sea lions! 🦭

In the first pic, you're looking at the end of its scapula. The blade-like bone in your back where your upper arm attaches. What other fossil bones can you spot in the block?

This jumbled mass of bones belongs to Pithanotaria, an early Otariid otherwise known as eared seals-- think California sea lions! 🦭

In the first pic, you're looking at the end of its scapula. The blade-like bone in your back where your upper arm attaches. What other fossil bones can you spot in the block?

Just casually thinking about Triceratops today and remembered I held the nose horn of one at Montana State!

The @nhmla has three Triceratops on display! One in the Dinosaur Hall (pictured), a skull, and then the famous one battling the T. rex.

Ceratopsians had the biggest skulls of any terrestrial animals.

Just casually thinking about Triceratops today and remembered I held the nose horn of one at Montana State!

The @nhmla has three Triceratops on display! One in the Dinosaur Hall (pictured), a skull, and then the famous one battling the T. rex.

Ceratopsians had the biggest skulls of any terrestrial animals.

It's #WorldLizardDay! Hopped across the street to the @nhmla to take a few measurements of some Plotosaurus (mosasaur) vertebrae. The Prehistoric Planet 2 Mosasaurus poster was actually there in the workspace already I swear!

It's #WorldLizardDay! Hopped across the street to the @nhmla to take a few measurements of some Plotosaurus (mosasaur) vertebrae. The Prehistoric Planet 2 Mosasaurus poster was actually there in the workspace already I swear!

#Throwbackthursday to when I was on top of the world last summer. Some Navajo Sandstone and Kayenta Formation fun in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah.

We didn't find one fossil haha.

Kinda bummed I won't be able to do field work with the @nhmla crew this summer since I am preparing for a conference trip to Australia (also injured my foot). Next year though!

#Throwbackthursday to when I was on top of the world last summer. Some Navajo Sandstone and Kayenta Formation fun in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah.

We didn't find one fossil haha.

Kinda bummed I won't be able to do field work with the @nhmla crew this summer since I am preparing for a conference trip to Australia (also injured my foot). Next year though!

The Exposition Park Rose Garden is amazing right now. Los Angeles has these incredible hidden gems, and I take for granted that my office is a 2 minute walk to one of the largest urban rose gardens in the country.

The Exposition Park Rose Garden is amazing right now. Los Angeles has these incredible hidden gems, and I take for granted that my office is a 2 minute walk to one of the largest urban rose gardens in the country.

Ah forgot to share this incredible pic of the view of downtown Los Angeles and USC from the NHMLA fossil prep lab. Snowcapped mountains in the background. 😊😍 Took it last week! Super clear day.

Ah forgot to share this incredible pic of the view of downtown Los Angeles and USC from the NHMLA fossil prep lab. Snowcapped mountains in the background. 😊😍 Took it last week! Super clear day.

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