Riley Black is a Salt Lake City-based science writer and paleontologist currently contributing to Smithsonian Magazine. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in:
Black’s journey began with a childhood fascination for dinosaurs, which evolved into formal studies in ecology and evolutionary biology at Rutgers University. Though she left academia to pursue writing, her fieldwork collaborations with institutions like the Natural History Museum of Utah and Yale Peabody Museum ground her work in hands-on research.
This 2024 piece dissects how marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs evolved mammal-like traits—blubber, live birth—to dominate Mesozoic oceans. Black contrasts fossil evidence with modern marine biology, highlighting how convergent evolution shaped similar solutions across epochs. Her analysis of eye socket fossils demonstrates how she bridges anatomical detail with ecological storytelling.
In this radio segment and accompanying article, Black traces the co-evolution of dinosaurs and flowering plants. She emphasizes lignin’s role in plant structure and its unintended consequences for herbivore digestion, using coprolite analysis to reconstruct Triassic food webs. The piece exemplifies her ability to connect botanical chemistry to charismatic megafauna.
This literary exploration uses Pleistocene pollen records and mastodon tooth wear patterns to reconstruct Ice Age seasonal cycles. Black employs speculative narrative techniques while maintaining scientific rigor, a hallmark of her approach to making deep time relatable.
Black prioritizes research with clear ties to physical specimens. A successful pitch might highlight newly described fossils that revise evolutionary timelines, similar to her coverage of Titanomachya, a recently discovered armored dinosaur. Avoid purely theoretical models without museum or field components.
Her work frequently examines how species and environments co-evolve. Pitches about plant-animal mutualisms, extinction cascade effects, or climate-driven adaptations (like her analysis of PETM fossil beds) align well. Steer clear of single-organism studies lacking ecosystem context.
As a frequent radio guest and documentary consultant, Black values visual/auditory elements. Proposals incorporating fossil scans, field expedition footage, or paleoart collaborations (like her partnership with Julius Csotonyi) stand out. Avoid text-only concepts.
This prestigious award, judged by scientists and educators, recognized The Last Days of the Dinosaurs for its masterful synthesis of Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary research. It places Black alongside laureates like Neil Shubin and Carl Zimmer.
Granted by the National Center for Science Education, this honor acknowledges Black’s efforts to combat creationist pseudoscience through public lectures and articles explaining evolutionary mechanisms.
“Fossils aren’t just bones—they’re time machines letting us interrogate life’s greatest experiments.”
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Science, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
