In 2022, science writerand paleontologist Riley Black was on a fossil-finding expedition in southeastern Utah. Scrambling up to peek at an outcrop of distinctive orange rocks, she discovered what looked like an aquarium of fossilized fish, every scale still in place. As her hollers of joy echoed off the canyon walls, her eyes adjusted, seeing even more delicately preserved details.
Unearthing exquisite fossils, she said, is “like getting the best news that you didn’t expect.”
Black (who uses she/they pronouns) grew up during the late 1980s’ dinomania—when many children wore dinosaur pajamas as they snuggled into dinosaur sheets, hugging dinosaur toys. Black donned dino costumes while wondering how the reptiles might have moved and sounded.
While studying ecology and evolution at Rutgers University in the early 2000s, Black dove into academic literature. At a time when the creationism versus evolution debate was taking center stage in schools, “I wanted to know more about what the fossil record [said] about evolution,” they said.
Black started translating information from journal articles by blogging. Their knack for communicating with the public led to a blog hosted by Smithsonian Magazine. “Publications had an interest in bringing in voices of people outside traditional academia and journalism,” they said.
“Just because you’re not getting your master’s or Ph.D. doesn’t mean that you can’t be involved in some way,” they said.
Blogging also became a way for Black to process their thoughts as they wrote books. They have authored numerous news stories, blog posts, and academic journal articles, as well as nearly a dozen books about fossils for both children and adults.
Black came out publicly as a transgender woman in 2019. “Before I came out,” she said, “I was trying too hard to fit into the mold of people that I admired.” Now, she said, she brings her entire self to her work. That’s allowed readers access to her imagination—rooted in the latest science—letting her make now fossilized creatures come alive on the page. “Being able to enthuse about these animals—as I think about them—[has] opened up my writing so much more,” she said.
Black, who once considered pursuing academia, also volunteers with researchers from museums and universities who rely on dedicated amateurs. Anyone can learn from the experts while making discoveries, they said. Black has found numerous fossils that are housed in museums around the United States.
“Just because you’re not getting your master’s or Ph.D. doesn’t mean that you can’t be involved in some way,” they said.
—Alka Tripathy-Lang (@DrAlkaTrip), Science Writer
This profile is part of a special series in our August 2024 issue on science careers.
Citation: Tripathy-Lang, A. (2024), Riley Black: bringing fossils to life, Eos, 105, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EO240321. Published on 25 July 2024.
Text © 2024. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.
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