Dr. Mairin Balisi is the Augustyn Family Curator at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, Los Angeles County, California. She is an expert in the evolution of mammalian carnivore communities, using fossil evidence to understand how environmental changes have shaped biodiversity on the scale of thousands to millions of years.
Originally from the Philippines and immigrating to the United States in high school, Dr. Balisi became interested in the natural world as a college student at the University of California, Berkeley. Following undergraduate degrees in Integrative Biology and Comparative Literature (Japanese and Russian), she earned a Master’s from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, both in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her academic path also included time as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the well-known La Brea Tar Pits & Museum in Los Angeles, and as a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Merced.
Dr. Balisi's research explores the lives of extinct predators like dire wolves and saber-toothed cats: their diet, hunting behavior, and skeletal diseases. Her work provides insights into past extinctions, offering relevant context for navigating current biodiversity issues. She is also the first female paleontology curator of Southeast Asian descent in the United States, an important achievement in the scientific community where equitable representation remains a challenge.
Beyond research, Dr. Balisi is dedicated to science education and mentorship. She teaches paleontology courses, leads fieldwork experiences for students, and aims to inspire future scientists through outreach. She hopes that her efforts to make science accessible will engage young people, showing them the diverse paths available in STEM.
As you embark on your own scientific journey, she is excited to share hers with you!