Meet the Scientist

Name: John J. Flynn
Position/Title: MacArthur Curator, Fossil Mammals
Department: Geology

1. What do you study related to biodiversity (what are your research questions, what organisms do you work on)?

Phylogeny, evolution, and biogeography of living and fossil mammals (especially Carnivora [dogs, cats, bears, etc.] and South American mammals). Many of these, such as Carnivora, are among the most diverse groups of living mammals and have numerous endangered species. My colleagues and I attempt to understand HOW this diversity arose, especially the interplay between physical factors (like plate tectonic movements, mountain building, and climate and environmental change) and biological responses (such as speciation, extinction, diversification, and ecosystem changes) over geological time frames and today.

2. How do you study biodiversity (for example, what technological tools and methodologies do you use in your research)?

Geological dating, including radioisotopic dating and paleomagnetic analyses. Field Museum is the only free-standing museum in the world with a Paleomagnetism Laboratory.

Systematic and phylogenetic analyses, integrating living and fossil mammals, anatomy and DNA data, and the fossil record.

Scanning electron microscopes, CT scans, DNA sequencing, computerized phylogeny analyses, etc.

Most important for our work, though, are collections of fossils or modern plants and animals. The more than 21 million objects at the Field Museum are a permanent archive of earth's past and present diversity, that can be studied by us and future generations of scientists to document and understand our planet's unique history.

3. Where do you study biodiversity?

Around the globe. Emphasis on South America (particularly Chile and the Andes, but also Peru, Colombia and elsewhere), Madagascar, and the U.S. Rocky Mountains.

4. How might your research have implications for biological conservation?

Understanding how and when species and ecosystems arose, how they responded to environmental changes in the past, and how much genetic and anatomical diversity each species and its closest relatives have, are all essential for making informed conservation decisions. Our research provides baseline information on biodiversity and evolutionary relationships. Our specific studies on the Carnivora of Madagascar, various groups of South American mammals, and the large-scale responses of faunas to climate, geological and environmental changes, all may have direct bearing on conservation issues involving those species and ecosystems.

5. How did you become interested in science? What made you want to be a scientist, and how did you get to The Field Museum?

As I was growing up, I regularly visited one of the world's great natural history museums and had my own "collection" of rocks and minerals. And I always loved science, so perhaps it isn't too surprising that I ended up becoming a scientist and working in a museum. But I also loved literature and writing. I went to college uncertain about what I wanted to do afterwards, debating between a major in English or Biology. By chance, in my first year I took an incredible Geology course. The professor was inspiring, not only in the classroom, but also "outdoors", where we had our weekly "laboratory" mapping and understanding rocks and earth history.

After volunteering in the college museum, and on summer expeditions in Wyoming, I realized that I could major in "Paleobiology", take all the Geology and Biology courses that interested me, and spend months in the field collecting fossils. What could be better? And if a scientist can't read and write, they won't be able to access the key knowledge others have built before them, and no one will understand their work. So my interest in literature certainly remains useful even in this career. By good fortune, and at least some hard work and talent (I hope), years later I was able to complete my Ph.D. degree and get a job as a curator at the Field Museum.

6. Describe important collaborations for your scientific endeavors (describe your work with other researchers, organizations, or scientific groups, local or indigenous peoples, etc.)

Science is truly an international endeavor. In particular, field-based research requires cooperation, mutual respect and friendship among partners across the globe. We have developed intense and deep collaborations with scientists, universities, museums, and students wherever we work, including Chile, Madagascar and Peru. Recently, with support from a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship and "Profesor Visitante" position at the Universidad de Chile, my family and I were able to spend an entire year living in Chile.

Although I have worked in Chile for almost two decades, this immersion year allowed me to develop broader and more productive collaborations around the country, including enhancing the national museum in Santiago and advising on creation of a new museum and fossil-protection preserve in another city, advising Chilean undergraduate and graduate students, creating "acuerdos" with the Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales, and expanding connections with several universities and the Geological Society of Chile.

Similarly, our "Accord de Collaboration" with Madagascar has been in place for more than a decade. Our joint work is as diverse as field expeditions to collect amazing dinosaur-era fossils, training of Malagasy students so that they can become the next generation of scientific leaders in their own country, building public exhibits here and in Madagascar, and assisting in building better collections facilities in Madagascar to permanently care for the country's marvelous diversity of fossil and living organisms.

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