Gabriel-Philip Santos

Educator, Paleontologist, Storyteller

About

My name is Gabriel-Philip Santos and I am a Filipino, first-generation scientist and educator from Los Angeles, California. My passions are education and storytelling. My goal is to make sure everyone has a chance for a bright future through education.Currently, I am the Director of Visitor Engagement and Education at the Alf Museum of Paleontology in Los Angeles, California. I received my B.Sc. in biology at University of California-Irvine and my M.Sc. in geology at California State University-Fullerton. My previous research interests focused on vertebrate fauna of Southern California and the paleobiology of marine mammals, particularly in the extinct hippo-like desmostylians.Now, my work focuses on combining my love of science with my passion for storytelling. I also work to make science education more accessible to all communities. In 2021, I was selected as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions for my work as an educator.My current projects include the Cosplay for Science Initiative, where we combine science education, pop culture, and storytelling to make science more relatable to audiences. Most recently, I joined the amazing team of the popular YouTube digital series, PBS Eons, as a cohost to tell amazing stories of deep time!

See my TEDx talk about combining pop culture with science storytelling for education.

Career

Current Positions
- Cohost, PBS Eons (current)
- Director of Visitor Engagement & Education, Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology (current)
- Cofounder and Project Lead, Cosplay For Science InitiativeCurrent Projects
- Cosplay for Science Initiative
- ACCESS Paleo SoCal Internship ProgramCertifications
- National Geographic Certified Educator (2019)Awards and Recognitions
- John and Mary Lou Pojeta Award, Paleontological Society (2022)
- National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions Grosvenor Teacher Fellow (2021)Publications
- Lundgren, L., Slater, E., Zhang, M., Kunz, K., and Santos, G.-P. 2024. Theory-based Science Communication at Comic Cons. International Journal of Science Education, Part B. Link- Slater, E., Lundgren, L., Zhang M., Kunz, K., and Santos, G.-P. 2024. Cosplay Connections: Exploring women science communicators’ comic con artifacts, practices, and re-imagination. Proceedings of the 18th Annual International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2024. Buffalo, New York: International Society of the Learning Sciences.- Stoneburg, B., V. Perez, L. Lundgren, M. Ziegler, and G.-P. Santos. 2020. Cosplay for Science: Leveraging Pop Culture to Make Science More Accessible. Exhibition (Fall 2020) Vol. 39 No. 2. Link- Santos, G.-P. Education and Outreach: Cosplay for Science Initiative and the Natural History Museum of Pokémon. Palaeontology Online, Vol. 8, Article 11. Link- Magallanes, I., J. F. Parham, G.-P. Santos, and J. Velez-Juarbe. 2018. A tuskless walrus from the Miocene of Orange County, California with comments on the diversity and taxonomy of odobenids. PeerJ. Link- Santos, G.-P. 2018. The geology and paleontology of a vertebrate bonebed from the Middle Eocene of southern California. Masters thesis.- Barboza, M. M., J. F. Parham, G-P. Santos, B. N. Kussman, J. Velez-Juarbe. 2017. The age of the Oso Member, Capistrano Formation, and a review of fossil crocodylians from California. PaleoBios, 34. Link- Santos, G.-P., J. F. Parham, and B. L. Beatty. 2016. New data on the ontogeny and senescence of Desmostylus (Desmostylia, Mammalia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. LinkFunding Support
- The David B. Jones Foundation
- Society for Science
- The Paleontological Society
- The National Geographic Society
- The Geological Society Geology and Society DivisionMembership
- The Paleontological Society
- The Geological Society of America
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- National Association of Geoscience Teachers
- National Science Teacher AssociationFull CV available in the links below.