r. Tesla Monson's work focuses on understanding the evolution of morphological diversity in mammals, particularly of the skull and teeth. During her presentation, Tesla will talk about what it means to be a scientist, describe the science of teeth, and tell us about her research on fossil and extant animals in museums around the world.

Dr. Tesla Monson became a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley in 2017, working with Dr. Leslea Hlusko in the Department of Integrative Biology. She holds a BA in cultural anthropology from Princeton University, a MA in biological anthropology from San Francisco State University, and a PhD in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley.

Recently Dr. Monson has taught Human Biological Variation at UC Berkeley. In addition to classroom teaching, she actively mentors UC Berkeley undergraduates in the study of mammalian variation. She also runs The Graduates on KALX 90.7 FM, a radio talk show program featuring UC Berkeley graduate student research and promoting diversity in the sciences.