Position Title
Member, Earth and Planetary Sciences Alumni Advisory Board
Lori Bettison-Varga arrived at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County in 2015. She oversees NHM in Exposition Park, La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park, and the William S. Hart Museum in Newhall, California. Her immediate goals include advancing the outreach and education around urban nature and community science; completing the design of the new Center for Nature and Culture, which will put a fresh face on NHM's western wing; and the reimagining of La Brea Tar Pits, where visitors can make connections between Ice Age Los Angeles 50,000 years ago, and climate change today.
A geologist who received her Ph.D. from UC Davis, Dr. Bettison-Varga served six years as president and W.M. Keck Foundation Presidential Chair at Scripps College in Claremont, California.