Sterling J. Nesbitt | |
---|---|
Residence | U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Fields | Paleontologist |
Institutions |
University of California Berkeley (2000–2004) Columbia University (2004–2009) |
Sterling Nesbitt (born March 25, 1982, in Mesa, Arizona) is an American paleontologist.
Sterling Nesbitt received his B.A. in integrative biology with a minor in geology from University of California Berkeley in 2004. He received his Ph.D from Columbia University in 2009, completing the majority of his research at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. He is widely regarded for his research on the rise of dinosaurs and Triassic archosaurs.
Nesbitt is also known for his rediscovery of the archosaur Effigia okeeffeae that had remained unrecognized, encased in a plaster block at the American Museum of Natural History since its collection in the 1940s. This specimen was not described as a new species until recognized and prepared by Nesbitt in 2006.
Nesbitt appears in the 2007 IMAX movie Dinosaurs Alive! and the re-worked 2008 version of Walking With Dinosaurs on the Discovery Channel.