Tess Gallagher

Tess is a paleontologist that specializes in the physiology, cellular biology, color patterning, and preservation of fossil skin. Her interests in dinosaurs began when she was a young girl with dinosaur movies and documentaries.

In summer of 2019, a year into her undergraduate studies, Tess volunteered with Elevation Science Institute with her mother on a dinosaur dig. They dug at a site known as Mother's Day, a bone bed of juvenile Diplodocus. It was here that she would uncover fossilized Diplodocus skin, kickstarting her career in paleontology. She published on this skin in her 3rd year of undergraduate studies, describing novel scale patterns.

Tess would go on to her Masters at the University of Bristol in the UK, where she continued her work on Mother's Day Diplodocus skin and discovered that the skin preserved color patterning. This work would be published two years later in Royal Society Open Science, and listed as one of the top 10 dinosaur discoveries in 2025 in Smithsonian Magazine.

Tess currently works at the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University as a Science Communicator, educating guests on the paleontology of cretaceous New Jersey.

September 2025