Lori Bettison-Varga has spent much of her career working in education, before being appointed president and director at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2015.
In this role, she is responsible for major projects which seek to advance research and public education in urban nature and climate science. These initiatives include the development of a new community hub at the Natural History Museum and the redevelopment of the La Brea Tar Pits. There have been over 100 excavations at this extraordinary site, where visitors can learn about the Ice Age discoveries and understand their connection to the modern, fast-changing world.
Speaking to blooloop in 2022, Bettison-Varga commented: “I think it is critical that museums shift to the third space, where this is our community space, as much as it is the space of the scientists or the educators who work there. It is also really important, in Los Angeles that our museums are connecting with a diverse audience, and fostering a new face of science. The future of science has to reach out broadly and be representative. We have the perfect location to do that in Los Angeles, with such a diverse population.”
Bettison-Varga holds a doctorate in geology and earth science from the University of Carolina, Davis, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022. This accolade recognised her work in undergraduate education and wider public engagement with science.
She was previously president and W.M. Keck Foundation presidential chair at Scripps College in Claremont, California, and her experience also includes provost at Whitman College and associate dean for research and grants at the College of Wooster.
“Being able to take the work that I had done in higher ed into the museum world was a real opportunity to impact the public,” Bettison-Varga told blooloop. “Having worked in the educational system as a geologist was a way to really open my mind to these concepts we’re confronting today in the museum world.”