Associate Curator of Paleobotany
Negaunee Integrative Research Center
Fabiany Herrera grew up in Colombia, surrounded by the Andes and its many types of forests; from montane to rainforests. He first became interested in rocks and mountains during his high school years and quickly fell in love with fossil and living plants later as an undergraduate student. Some of Fabiany's work includes the earliest evidence of Neotropical rainforests in South America (~60 million years old), enigmatic plants from Mongolia and China (~125 million years old), and fossil floras from Central America (~35-20 million years old).
Education and Work
- Ph.D., Botany, 2014, University of Florida
- M.S. Geology, 2008, University of Florida
- B.S. Geology, 2005, Industrial University of Santander, Colombia- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Chicago Botanic Garden, 2014-2021.
- Adjunct Faculty Member, Biology Department, Elmhurst University, 2017 to present.
- Research Associate, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. 2005 to present
Accomplishments
Key publications of Fabiany include the following. See more in Fabiany’s lab website.
Herrera F., Testo W.L., Field A.F., Clark E.G., Herendeen P.S, Crane P.R., Shi G. 2022. A permineralized Early Cretaceous lycopsid from China and the evolution of crown clubmosses. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17874
Shi G., Herrera F., Herendeen P.S., Clark E.G., Crane P.R. 2021. Mesozoic cupules and the origin of the angiosperm second integument. Nature. 594: 223–226 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03598-w
Herrera F., G Shi, M. A. Bickner, N. Ichinnorov, A. B. Leslie, P. R. Crane, and P. S. Herendeen. 2021. Early Cretaceous abietoid Pinaceae from Mongolia and the history of seed scale shedding. American Journal of Botany 108(8): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1713
Carvalho M.R., Jaramillo C., de la Parra F., Caballero-Rodríguez D., Herrera F., et al. 2021. Extinction at the end-Cretaceous set the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests. Science. Vol. 372, Issue 6537, pp. 63-68. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abf1969
Herrera F., Shi G., Mays C., Ichinnorov N., Takahashi M., Bevitt JJ., Herendee PS., Crane PR. 2020. Reconstructing Krassilovia mongolica supports recognition of a new ...
Research Sketch
Fabiany’s research investigates:
- The evolutionary origin of the tropical rainforests and flowering plant lineages.
- The study of Mesozoic plants to improve understanding of the timing of events in seed plant evolution.
- Paleobiogeographic and paleoclimatic history of the Cenozoic.
- Integrated paleobotanical and neobotanical studies of plant diversity and evolution.
Learning Resources
2025 Field Explorers Oppoutunities
2025 Summer Camps Opportunities
A convenient guide with camps for all ages and dates.
3D Model: Cryolophosaurus Skull | Dinosaur Toolkit
Use this 3D model to see how scientists reconstruct animals like Cryolophosaurus from the fossil record.
Interactive or App|Grades PK-123D Model: Glacialisaurus Foot | Dinosaur Toolkit
Learn how the first giant dinosaurs like Glacialisaurus moved by exploring this 3D model.
Interactive or App|Grades PK-123D Model: Tyrannosaurus rex | Dinosaur Toolkit
Interact with this 3D model to find out what we can learn about SUE the T. rex's life by looking at its fossils, then test your knowledge
Interactive or App|Grades PK-12AAHM Scavenger Hunt-Arabic
AAHM Scavenger Hunt-English
AAHM Scavenger Hunt-Spanish
AANHPI Scavenger Hunt-English
AANHPI Scavenger Hunt-Spanish
A Celebration of Souls Fact Sheet
A Celebration of Souls Tour Schedule
A Conversation about Land Acknowledgments
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Advantages of Levers | Biomechanics Toolkit
Test basic lever types and explore the trade-off between a force advantage and speed advantage in the animal world.
Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8Adventures in the Herbarium: Museums and Medicines
The importance and impact of Field Museum’s African flowering plant specimens are highlighted in two podcasts. These podcasts were written, recorded, and edited by two college interns who worked alongside experts and collections specimens. Museums and Medicines highlights the impact plant specimens have had on human health and why their conservation is so important.
Activity|Grades 3-12Adventures in the Herbarium: Pixels and Petals
The importance and impact of Field Museum’s African flowering plant specimens are highlighted in two podcasts. These podcasts were written, recorded, and edited by two college interns who worked alongside experts and collections specimens. Pixels and Petals highlights the digital imaging process and the impact of herbarium specimens.
Grades PK-12Animal Observations | Science Hub at Home
Learn how scientists observe and track animal behavior and how you can do the same with your pets at home.
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Analyze how we learn about history through objects and theorize what gaps can exist in object-based stories.
Lesson Plan|Grades 6-12Artifact Observation Guide
Encourage close examination of a single artifact—an object produced by humans—using observations and inferences.
Activity|Grades 3-12A Selection of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates of Illinois, USA
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Discover what you can learn from the objects all around us when you look carefully and apply a specific disciplinary lens. Spanish subtitles available.
Video|Grades 3-12At-Home Activities
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At Home Collections | Science Hub at Home
Create your own museum collection at home.
Activity|Grades 3-8Basket Making Demonstration with Lorene Sisquoc
Watch Lorene Sisquoc teaching and weaving a basket at the Field Museum opening of Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories.
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Listen to and watch Lorene Sisquoc and Kelly Church discuss basket weaving and oral traditions.
Video|Grades PK-12Beginner's Field Guide: Fall in Chicagoland
With this guide, get to know the plants and animals that share your Chicagoland neighborhood during the fall. Birds migrate south, animals prepare for the cold, and leaves put on a colorful show.
Family-Friendly Lesson|Activity|Beginner's Field Guide: Pollinators in Chicagoland
Bees and butterflies get most of the credit for pollination, but there is a wider and more interesting array of species pollinating flowers throughout the Midwestern United States. This guide serves as a beginner’s guide to finding Chicagoland’s common pollinators, some you will recognize and some you will be surprised by.
Beginner’s Field Guide: Pollinators & Native Plants in Chicagoland
This Field Guide is all about the relationships between native plants and their pollinators in the Chicago region. Flowers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and smells, and those characteristics all matter to the different pollinators they attract. We hope this guide sparks curiosity and inspires you to observe these interactions in your backyard or local park.
Beginner's Field Guide: Spring in Chicagoland
Get to know the plants and animals that you'll see in Chicago in the springtime.
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Learn why being big isn’t always an advantage and find out how mythic creatures like Godzilla and King Kong could never have carried their own weight.
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Uncover how an animal’s size affects its ability to regulate temperature.
Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8Beverage Packages
Biodiversity and Ecosystems
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Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8BIOlympics Game | Biomechanics Toolkit
Jump into BIOlympics events to see how animals achieve amazing feats. Use that knowledge to choose competitors for different events.
Game|Grades 6-8Biomechanics Exhibition Overview
Biomechanics Fact Sheet
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Bird Calls and Songs | PlayLab at Home
Listen to different songs or calls made by local Illinois birds.
Activity|Grades PK-2Birding 101 | Science Hub at Home
Discover the birds of Chicago with these birding techniques.
Activity|Grades 3-8Birds are shrinking as the climate warms
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Búsqueda del Tesoro español
Calumet Heritage Area
Learn about the collaborative effort to protect the Calumet region, one of the most diverse places in America.
Chef Jessica Pamonicutt Discusses Cooking and Fry Bread
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Video|Grades PK-12Chicago Community Climate Partnership
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Chicago Wilderness
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Colors in the Rice Native Gardens Field Guide
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Common Butterflies of the Chicago Region Field Guide
This guide will help identify some of the many species of butterflies found in the Chicagoland area.
Common Wild Bees of Illinois Field Guide
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Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery Exhibition Overview
Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery Fact Sheet
Death: Life's Greatest Mystery TE Walkthrough
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Deforestation is stressing mammals out
Higher levels of stress hormones are found in rodents and marsupials in deforested patches of South America's Atlantic Forest, in a paper published in Scientific Reports. The destruction of an animal’s habitat can drastically change its life, with less food and territory to go around.
Dia de los Muertos 2022
Dinopalooza Flyer
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Lesson Plan|Grades 3-5Discovery Adventures
This free online series takes viewers on an interactive, educator-led adventure around the Field. Tune in live every Tuesday, or catch the recordings any time.
Diversity of Life | Exploring the Field Guide
Observe animal dioramas to compare and contrast organisms and explore the diversity of life.
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Discover how much force a seemingly brittle object like an egg can withstand when it’s dome-shaped.
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Dozin' with the Dinos 2025 Info Packet
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Activity|Grades 3-5Evidence in the Unwritten | China Toolkit
Investigate the role of an archaeologist and discover the types of questions that drive their work. Spanish subtitles available.
Video|Grades 6-12Exhibition Investigation Guide
Investigate a museum exhibition using the claim, evidence, reasoning cycle.
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Activity|Grades 9-12Exploring Language | China Toolkit
Explore the history of writing in China by drawing conclusions about the impact of the written word on human civilizations and how language changes over time.
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Field Family Nights 2023 Info Packet
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First Kings of Europe Fact Sheet
First Kings of Europe Tour Schedule
Fish diversity and forest health
Scientists investigated fish populations in Guyana, which helped to show why aquatic corridors matter in conservation. Their study, published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, makes an important case that protecting one tiny corner of the Guiana Shield can help protect biodiversity across the Amazon.
Forces Design Challenge | Biomechanics Toolkit
Use animal structure and function to design a way that humans can reduce the force felt and/or energy absorbed by an object.
Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8Furiously Fast Falcons | Science Hub at Home
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Activity|Grades 3-8Giants from the Past | Dinosaur Toolkit
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Herbarium Sheets | PlayLab at Home
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Activity|Grades PK-2Hominid Adaptations | Exploring the Field Guide
Investigate fossil remains of hominids to learn how humans and our relatives evolved over time.
Activity|Grades 6-8Illinois Beginner’s Field Guide Winter in Chicago
Impact of climate on rainforest biodiversity
A study in Biotropica examined data on small mammals in South America. It found something surprising: that climate may affect biodiversity in rainforests even more than deforestation does.
Investigating the Qingming Scroll | China Toolkit
Learn about the contradictions depicted in the Qingming Scroll and compare it with present-day representations of idealized societies.
Lesson Plan|Grades 6-12In Your Backyard | Science Hub at Home
Track down reptiles and amphibians by exploring your own natural spaces.
Activity|Grades 3-8