General 2 — DeSantis DREAM Lab

Community Outreach

"Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

We aim to give back to the community through community outreach including Fossils at the Fort, communicating science to local and global audiences (also see News), training the next generation of scientists (including mentoring high school, undergraduate, and graduate students), working with teachers to bring cutting edge science to classrooms, and serving as a role models to children interested in science (and those with disabilities). We have participated in programs with the Vanderbilt School for Science and Math and Vanderbilt Virtual School.

Community Engagement

Fossils at the Fort

Vanderbilt partners with Fort Negley Park, Metro Parks and Recreation and Vulcan Materials Co. to provide opportunities to journey into Middle Tennessee’s astonishing ancient past. DeSantis has co-organized (with Metro Parks) this event since 2016.
Read more about it in **Vanderbilt News**.

Ask a Vanderbilt Paleontologist

Sabertooth cats, marine reptiles, ancient whales and bizarre creatures of the past are just a few of the fun fossils Vanderbilt University paleontologists discuss with kids during a free virtual National Fossil Day event held on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. The event features paleontologists from Vanderbilt University’s departments of biological sciences and Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt University, including Larisa DeSantis, Rachel Racicot, Neil Kelley, and Simon Darroch. This event was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a safe way to connect with kids across the globe.

TEDx Vanderbilt

Our Ancient Past is the Key to Our Future.

PaleoFest 2020

Odis talks with mammal researcher, Larisa DeSantis, about her love of paleontology growing up near the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles and her favorite animal, saber-toothed cats!

Melissa Pardi teaching high school students about paleontology.

TWISTER!

Tennessee Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Research (TWISTER) is a professional conference for high school girls. TWISTER is presented by women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and sponsored by and held at the Adventure Science Center.

DeSantis talking with WIN News in the Darling Downs, Australia.

News Media

Sharing our research with the public is both fun and important. Our work uses fossils to better understand impacts of climate change on biotic organisms, of direct relevance to today. See our work featured in the news and follow us on Twitter to learn when new studies come out!

In the News

Inspired to DREAM

Mentors, Mentees, and Role Models

Our lab is inclusive and fosters collaborations with motivated students of all backgrounds. We welcome members of any gender, ethnicity, and those with different abilities (disabilities). Prospective Students should reach out to Larisa DeSantis directly. DeSantis also works with the Vanderbilt School for Science and Math, where several students have worked on collaborative projects - including a Siemens Semi-Finalist (one of only 5 in the state of Tennessee).

Dream TEAM

High School Student Research Publications

5. ***Reside, A., DeSantis, L.R.G. § 2017. Stable isotope and dental microwear ecology of the arid adapted red kangaroo (Macropus rufus). Young Scientist (https://s3.amazonaws.com/vu-wp0/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2017/06/01142213/Reside.pdf)

4. ***Shea, M. K., Yann, L.T., DeSantis, L.R.G., §Tung, T.A. 2015. Carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to document childhood diet and local vs. non-local status among African slave burials from the Grassmere Plantation, Nashville, Tennessee. Young Scientist 5: 42-45 (https://www.youngscientistjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/04/Shea.pdf)

3. ***Jiang, T., DeSantis, L.R.G. § 2014. Dental microwear texture analysis of the Tasmanian devil: assessing variability among teeth. Young Scientist 4: 30-32. (https://www.youngscientistjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/10/Dental-Microwear-Texture-Analysis-of-the-Tasmanian-Devil.pdf)

2. ***Burgess, C., DeSantis, L.R.G. § 2013. Stable isotope ecology of the red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus): clarifying species-specific responses to climate and geographic variables. Young Scientist 3: 28-31 (https://www.youngscientistjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/08/Burgess.pdf)

1. ***Kelly, J.E., DeSantis, L.R.G., Tung, T.A. 2012. Reconstructing climate change and food production in the ancient Peruvian Andes using stable isotope analysis. Young Scientist 2: 31-33 (https://www.youngscientistjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/08/2012-05_article_kelly.pdf)

Rebels, Scholars, Explorers

DeSantis speaks about her journey, mentors, and challenges to becoming a woman in vertebrate paleontology. Produced by Annalisa Berta, former SVP President and co-author of Rebels, Scholars, Explorers.

A life-changing meeting

Vanderbilt paleontologist Larisa DeSantis' 1989 meeting with Pres. George H. W. Bush, as the National Poster Child of the Epilepsy Foundation of America advocating for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, instilled in her a sense of responsibility to achieve and be a role model for others.

Anniversary of the ADA

Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) at the George Bush Presidential Library, November 5, 2015. Speakers included: Larisa DeSantis, Lex Frieden, and Boyden Gray.