Profile

Betsy Kruk

M.Sc. Student, Paleontology

Bio

My M.Sc. research focuses on a peculiar ceratopsian dinosaur, Pachyrhinosaurus, who, instead of horns, has big bony masses known as bosses. I examine these bosses as well as other cranial material using histology to understand the microstructure of Pachyrhinosaurus nasal bosses. Furthermore, I am interested in how these bosses form during ontogeny because juvenile pachyrhinosaurs begin life with little horns that somehow form these large bony masses.

Originally from Chicago, I completed my undergraduate degree at Montana State University with a major in Earth Sciences and an emphasis on paleontology. My senior thesis focused on studying the microstructure of dinosaur eggshell using a technique known as electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). During my time at MSU I participated in the Dinosaur Eggs and Education program, which allowed me to travel to China for five weeks to perform research on dinosaurs eggs at the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History.