Luis M. Chiappe is Director of the Dinosaur Institute and Curator of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Dr Chiappe has conducted extensive research on the evolution of dinosaurs, particularly the origin and early evolution of birds, and is considered a world authority in the field of early bird evolution. of birds, and is considered a world authority in the field of early bird evolution. His research has been published in numerous articles as well as books, including Walking on Eggs and Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. He is a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Alexander Humboldt Foundation, an Adjunct Professor at University of Southern California, and a Research Associate at the American museum of Natural History in New York City.