K.E. Beth Townsend
Professor, Midwestern University
Research Associate, Natural History Museum of Utah
My research explores the “ecological theater” in which vertebrates evolve, with a focus on mammalian response to global warming. I work in the middle Eocene beds of the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah, where I have led long-term field projects for more than 20 years. In the lab, I use ecomorphological approaches to examine both taxon- and community-level responses to warming events.
I began my paleontological training at the University of Colorado Boulder (B.A, Biological Anthropology), with fieldwork in the Washakie and Green River Basins of Wyoming. I earned my M.A. and Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, where I began my work in the Uinta Basin. I was a postdoctoral scholar at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, evaluating dietary ecology in Miocene South American mammals.
I’ve been an active member of SVP since attending my first meeting as an undergraduate in 1993. Since then, I’ve chaired symposia, led field trips to Eocene localities in Wyoming and Utah, and participated consistently in annual meetings.
My professional service includes executive committee roles with the Southwestern Association of Biological Anthropologists, the Southwestern Anthropological Association, and my local Sigma Xi chapter. As faculty at Midwestern University, I’ve chaired and served on multiple graduate thesis committees, mentored students in the field, and advised students from other institutions. I’ve been involved in committees such as Faculty Development (2008–2010) and the University Fulbright Committee (2014–2015, 2023–2025). I am part of the leadership team overseeing our on-campus vertebrate anatomical collection, the Arizona Research Collection for Integrated Vertebrate Education and Study (ARCIVES, 2014-present).
Over three decades of work in the Uinta Basin (beginning as a student) has deepened my commitment to collaborative, place-based science. It has shown me the importance of engaging with public land policies, resource management, and the rural communities who live alongside fossil-bearing landscapes.
If elected Member-at-Large, I will advocate for initiatives that build bridges between research and its broader societal impact: expanding training in applied paleontology, increasing support for public engagement, and strengthening our society’s voice in land use policy conversations. I will continue to broaden access to paleontology by mentoring students from underserved communities in the field, so they see themselves as part of our discipline’s future. I am also deeply dedicated to supporting the continued collection of fossils—vital to the advancement of our science—and to ensuring that these efforts are in close partnership with museums and their collections staff. Working hand-in-hand, as I do with my curatorial colleagues at NHMU, to document, preserve, and steward the materials we collect is essential to honoring our shared responsibility to both science and the public trust.
I’m passionate about making sure our science thrives not just in the field and lab, but also in the broader societal contexts that shape its future.