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Sues, Hans

Sues, Hans

Senior Research Geologist and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology

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Sues, Hans

Senior Research Geologist and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology

Phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of late Paleozoic and Mesozoic non-mammalian synapsids and reptiles (especially non-avian archosaurs); patterns and causes of early Mesozoic biotic changes.

Background And Education

Education And Training

Professional Biography

  • After receiving his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University in 1984, Hans Sues conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University and the Smithsonian on early Mesozoic vertebrates and ecosystems. In 1992, he became Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and joined the faculty of the Department of Zoology at the University of Toronto. In 1999, Sues was appointed Vice President of Collections & Research at the Royal Ontario Museum and later held equivalent senior management positions at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. He is now Senior Research Geologist and Curator of Fossil Vertebrates in the Department of Paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History.

     

    His research program centers on terrestrial vertebrate diversity and faunal changes during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras and the evolutionary history of archosaurian reptiles, especially dinosaurs. Sues has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific articles in leading peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. He has edited or co-edited a number of books on vertebrate paleontology and paleoecology. In recognition of his scientific contributions, Sues was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, most recently, received an Alexander von Humboldt Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching.

     

    A graduate of the Museum Management Institute (2000), he has more than ten years of senior-level experience in museum management and frequently serves as a consultant and reviewer in this field. A Past President of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Sues has served on the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society and the Board of Directors of the Natural Science Collections Alliance

Awards And Honors

Public Biography

  • Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues is a senior research geologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. He specializes in the study of dinosaurs and other vertebrates from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. After earning his doctorate from Harvard University, Dr. Sues worked as a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University and at the National Museum of Natural History. Later, he was curator and senior manager at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh before returning to the Smithsonian. Dr. Sues has collected fossil vertebrates across the United States as well as in Canada, China, Germany, and Morocco.

Publications

Selected Publications

Editor Of

  • Book

    • Fraser, N. C. and Sues, Hans-Dieter, editors. 2017. Terrestrial Conservation Lagerstätten: Windows into the Evolution of Life on Land. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press. 2017
    • Fraser, Nicholas C. and Sues, Hans-Dieter, editors. 2013. Terrestrial conservation Lagerstätten: windows into the evolution of life on land. Dunedin. 2013

Affiliation

Member Of

Contact

Location

Mailing Address

  • Department of Paleobiology

    National Museum of Natural History

    MRC 121

    P.O. Box 37012

    Washington, DC 20013-7012

Shipping Address

  • Department of Paleobiology
    National Museum of Natural History
    10th and Constitution Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC 20560