I completed a BA in Geology at Gustavus Adolphus College, where I wrote a senior thesis on a gravel pit. I then finished an MS in Geology & Geophysics at The University of Wyoming, where I wrote a thesis on structural geology using geophysical, original surface mapping, and lots of well data. I measured many, many strikes and dips because my advisor said there is no such thing as too many strikes and dips. I’m not so sure. I finished my PhD in Integrative Biology at the University of California – Berkeley (under the watchful eye of the good people at UCMP), where my thesis focused on fossil duplicidentates and biogeochronology; but really, I learned how to be a biologist (I think). I followed that up with a post-doctoral fellowship in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2009, I’ve been an Assistant then Associate Professor of Anatomy at Western University of Health Sciences, where I contribute to raising the stress levels of medical students in our gross medical anatomy course, even though I try not to. There are a few more details below, but if you’d like to read the too long version, check out my CV.
Picture
Me (left) and Ahmed Abdalla Al-Haj (right) Mapping at the Mleisa1 proboscidean track site in the United Arab Emirates.
Selected Publications
Kraatz B, Sherratt E. (2016) Evolutionary morphology of the rabbit skull. PeerJ 4:e2453
Kraatz, BP, Sherratt, E, Bumacod, N, Wedel, M. 2015. Ecological correlates to cranial morphology in Leporids (Mammalia, Lagomorpha). PeerJ 3:e844; DOI 10.7717/peerj.844
Kraatz, B. P., Bibi, F., and Hill, A., and Beech, M., 2013 A New Fossil Thryonomyid from the Late Miocene of the United Arab Emirates and the Origin of African Cane Rats. Naturwissenschaften, v. 100, p. 437–449.
Bibi, F, Kraatz, B, Craig, N, Beech, M, Schuster, M, and Hill, A. 2012. Early Evidence for Complex Social Structure in Proboscidea from a Late Miocene Trackway Site in the United Arab Emirates. Biology Letters, v. 8, p. 670-673.
Kraatz, BP, Meng, J, Li, C-k, and Weksler, M. 2010. Evolutionary patterns in the dentition of Duplicidentata (Mammalia) and a novel trend in molarization of premolars, PLoS ONE, 5(9): e12838.
Selected Grants, Awards and Fellowships
American Philosophical Society, Franklin Research Grant [2013]
National Geographic Society/Waitt Grant [2012]
American Museum of Natural History Postdoctoral Fellowship [2007]
George D. Louderback Award in Paleontology, University of California Museum of Paleontology [2006]
Annie Alexander Fellowship, University of California Museum of Paleontology [2006]
NSF Graduate GK-12 Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley Natural History Museums [2004 – 2006]
Outstanding Masters Thesis, The University of Wyoming [2001]
Outstanding Masters Student, The University of Wyoming, Department of Geology and Geophysics [2001]
Fieldwork
China, Paleogene [2013, 2015]
United Arab Emirates, Late Miocene [2003, 2009-2011, 2014]
Tajikistan, Paleogene [2013]
Oman, Paleogene [2012]
Mongolia, Paleogene [2004 – 2006, 2008]
Wyoming, Paleogene [1999 – 2000]
Colorado, Paleogene [1998]