Roy Plotnick

Roy E. Plotnick is a paleontologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he is professor emeritus. He received his PhD in 1983 from University of Chicago. He is a Fellow of both the Geological Society of America and the Paleontological Society In 2017 he was an Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Yale University. His research is notably eclectic, encompassing many areas of paleontology and related fields of geology and ecology. His interests include the extinct giant eurypterids (sea scorpions), fossil anemones, and the fossil record of the Sixth Extinction. He is also the unchallenged expert on the history of the Little Engine that Could.

Roy is also an award-winning teacher and has been long involved with efforts to improve K-12 science education and to increase public interest and awareness of paleontology and the Earth sciences.