Scott Sampson
SCOTT SAMPSON was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He is a dinosaur paleontologist, science communicator, and passionate advocate for reimagining cities as places where people and nature thrive. He serves as the President and CEO of Science World British Columbia.
Scott’s scientific research has focused on the ecology and evolution of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, and he has conducted fieldwork in many countries, including Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar, Mexico, the United States, and Canada. He has published numerous scientific and popular articles, and regularly speaks to audiences of all ages on topics ranging from dinosaurs and education to sustainability and connecting kids with nature.
Sampson has appeared in many television documentaries and served as a science advisor for a variety of media projects, most recently the BBC movie, Walking With Dinosaurs. He has authored multiple books, including Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life, and How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature. However, he is perhaps best known as “Dr. Scott,” host and science advisor of the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS television series Dinosaur Train, produced by the Jim Henson Company.
3 words to describe Nature?
Interwoven, Nested, Evolving
3 things Nature taught you?
Wonder, Deep Connection, Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
While I have had the pleasure of traveling to a number of countries around the world, my most treasured nature spots have been those that I have been able to return to again and again. They are the ones I know the best, and that resonate with me most deeply.
Long Beach (Tofino area), Vancouver Island
Marin Headlands, California
Red Rock Country, southern Utah
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Awe (in its vastness)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Wonder (in its deep, mostly unseen interconnections)
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Humbled (by the sheer power it represents from within the Earth)
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Tiny, and a little off balance (sitting, as I am, on the side of a giant, rolling sphere)
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Resonance (it is as if I feel the thunder more from the inside out, than the outside in)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
A deep appreciation for shelter
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Growing up in Vancouver, BC, I was raised at the intersection of ocean, mountain, and forest, so for me they are interwoven. But if I had to pick one only, it would be the ocean.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
While still a child, camping with my family in the interior of British Columbia, I went off on my own (as usual) in search for interesting rocks and (hopefully) fossils. I spent a joyous hour or two on the side of a steep, boulder-strewn slope, turning over rocks and hunting for whatever wonders might be revealed. (I may have rolled a few rocks down the hillside as well.) Eventually I stopped and sat for a long while on a flat rock with a view of the valley below. When I finally headed back to our campsite, I wanted to show my parents where I had been. Late in the day, we walked back to the spot, to find a rattlesnake lounging on the very same flat rock I had sat on just hours earlier. I presume that it was soaking in the last rays of sun before a night of hunting. Although my first reaction was a twinge of fear, my lasting sense was one of interconnection—with the snake, the rock, and that place.
