Changemaker Speaker Series: Dr. Paul Sereno – Astonishing Dinosaurs

They call him the “Indiana Jones of Paleontology” and he’s earned every bit of it.

Dr. Paul Sereno leads The Fossil Lab at the University of Chicago and has spent decades chasing lost worlds across the globe, from the Andes to the plains of Asia to the deepest reaches of the African continent. Born and raised in Naperville, Illinois, Sereno studied art and biology at Northern Illinois University before earning his doctorate at Columbia University, where he cut his teeth researching dinosaur fossils across Asia. Since joining the University of Chicago in 1987, his fieldwork has taken him to some of the most remote and punishing landscapes on Earth.

His latest expedition may be his most staggering yet. Featured in the August 2025 issue of National Geographic, Sereno’s team uncovered 55 tons of fossils buried beneath the Sahara including a Spinosaurus skull, previously unknown sauropod species, and massive crocodile-like predators. Together, these discoveries reveal an ancient ecosystem of almost unimaginable scale, a lost world teeming with giants.

In Astonishing Dinosaurs, Sereno brings the full force of that adventure to the stage. Part science, part expedition thriller, this show drops you into the heat and sand of one of history’s boldest fossil hunts. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to pull a 100-million-year-old skull from the earth, this is your night.

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