Riley Black (formerly Brian Switek) is an American

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and science writer. She is the author of natural history books such as '' The Last Days of the Dinosaurs'', ''Skeleton Keys'' and ''My Beloved Brontosaurus''.

Biography

Black studied Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Her books include '' The Last Days of the Dinosaurs'', ''Skeleton Keys'' and ''My Beloved Brontosaurus''. Black was hired as "resident paleontologist" for the 2015 film ''

Jurassic World ''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...

''. She also starred in the 2022 documentaries ''Alaskan Dinosaurs'' and ''Dinosaur Apocalypse''. Black previously wrote under the name Brian Switek. In 2019, she came out publicly as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

and

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and started

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women paleontologists Non-binary scientists Transgender scientists Rutgers University alumni {{US-scientist-stub