Mark A. Norell was born July 26 1957 in St. Paul Minnesota. He spent most of his formative years (1964 on) in Southern California. He received a Bachelor of Science in 1980 from Long Beach State University and a Masters of Science from San Diego State University in 1983. He received his Ph.D. in 1988 at Yale University (winning a John Spanger Nichols prize for best thesis). After a year of post-doctoral training studying the molecular genetics of maize, Dr. Norell accepted a curatorial position at the American Museum of Natural History in New York where he is a Curator. Dr. Norell's research encompasses a number of different areas. He has worked on theoretical topics relating to the study of diversity through time, the efficacy of the fossil record in capturing phylogenetic history, and how missing data can influence the estimation of phylogeny. Currently he is working on the relationships of small carnivorous dinosaurs to modern birds, naming new dinosaurs, and attempting to develop new ways of looking at fossils using CT scans and imaging computers. His work has taken him across the globe. Dr. Norell has been accompanying scientific expeditions since he was 14 years old and has taken part in over 20 international scientific expeditions. He has worked actively in the last few years in Patagonia, Cuba, the Chilean Andes, the Sahara, West Africa and Mongolia. The Mongolia project (now in its twelfth year) has received world-wide attention. Career highlights include the discovery of the enigmatic theropods Shuvuuia and Mononykus, the discovery of the richest Cretaceous fossil locality in the world Ukhaa Tolgod, the first embryo of a theropod dinosaur, the description (with Chinese and Canadian colleagues) of dinosaurs with feathers, and the first indication of a dinosaur nesting on a clutch of eggs like a bird. Dr. Norell has named several other dinosaurs including Apsaravis, Byronosaurus, and Achillonychus. His work regularly appears in major scientific journals (including cover stories in Science and Nature) and was listed by Time magazine as one of the ten most significant science stories of 1994 and 1996, and in 1993, 1994 and 1996 as one of Discover magazine's top 50 science stories of the year. He is a fellow of the Explorer's Club and Willi Hennig Society and actively participates in several international scientific societies. In 1998 he was named a New York City Leader of the Year by the New York Times and Mays and in 200 he was honored as a distinguished Alumnus of California State University Long Beach. Between expeditions and the demands of a scientific career, Dr. Norell lectures to general audiences and writes books and articles for diverse audiences. Discovering Dinosaurs, published by E.J. Knopf in May of 1995, and appeared in a second edition in 2000, won Scientific American's Young Readers Book of the Year Award. In 2000 A Nest of Dinosaurs was given an Orbis Pictus award by the National Council of Teachers as a noteworthy title. Mark Norell resides in New York City.