Amy Klein
Title: Administrative Specialist
Areas Overseen: Main Office
Phone: 785-628-5516
Email: aklein@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Amy holds a degree in Accounting from Fort Hays State University. She is responsible for the financial record-keeping of the museum, oversees the day-to-day operation of the business office, and coordinates the scheduling of facility rentals. She and her family reside in Hays.
Darrah Steffen
Title: Public Relations Assistant
Areas Overseen: Public Relations and Social Media
Phone: 785-628-5298
Email: sternbergpr@gmail.com
Additional Info: Darrah is from Ottawa, Kansas. She grew up loving rocks and fossils. This led her to obtain a B.S. in Geology from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2015. She completed her Master of Science with an emphasis in paleontology and museum studies in 2017. Her work consists of suture complexity analysis of ammonites from the Western Interior Seaway. Darrah has experience working as a publicist for the Paleontology Club at SDSM&T and the Hardrockin’ Drama Club. Darrah enjoys bringing opportunities to experience natural history to all audiences.
Brad Penka
Title: Manager of Visitor Services
Areas Overseen: Excavations Gift Shop, Admissions Desk, Membership Program
Phone: 785-628-5512
Email: bpenka@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Brad began working as a volunteer for Sternberg Museum in 1998 while attending FHSU and advanced to his current position in March 1999, two weeks before the museum opened. He holds a B.A. in Communications degree with emphasis in business and public relations. Brad has over 20 years experience in retail management, museum administration, and community development and serves on the boards of directors of several historical and economic development organizations. He has authored several historical publications and books on regional history and tourism and has recently published a new book on Post Rock Limestone. He currently resides in La Crosse.
David Levering
Title: Camps Manager
Areas Overseen: Camps, Special Events, and Programs
Phone: 785-628-5249
Email: dalevering@fhsu.edu
Thea Haugen
Title: Naturalist
Areas Overseen: Discovery Room and animal care
Phone: 785-628-5517
Email: thaugen@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Thea manages the Discovery Room and takes care of the living animals at the museum. She also assists and oversees many of the education activities and programs, tours of the museum and special events. Here favorite critter is anything with no legs or up to 8. For her giant millipedes are really sweet! In her spare time, Thea works with wildlife rehabilitation.
Ian Trevethan
Title: Education Manager
Areas Overseen: Tours, Education, Outreach, Volunteer Program
Phone: 785-639-4738
Email: ijtrevethan@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Ian has earned a bachelors of science in earth sciences from Montana State University, and has earned a Master of Science in Geosciences from Fort Hays State University. His works consists of isotopic analysis of core body temperature in mosasaurs and has also participated in research projects regarding individual cranial variation in dinosaurs. He is committed to educating the general public in all facets of paleontological and geological sciences, particularly through museum outreach programs.
Gregory Walters
Title: Exhibits Manager
Areas Overseen: Exhibit Galleries
Phone: 785-628-4289
Email: gwalters@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Greg received his B.S. and M.S. in Geology from the University of Iowa. While in graduate school, he also went through the Museum Studies program and served as a curatorial assistant in the university’s herbarium. He moved to Hays in 1989 to take the position of Conservator/Preparator at Sternberg Memorial Museum, then located on FHSU’s main campus. Shortly after arriving, plans were initiated for a major expansion and consolidation of the university museums and Greg spent much of his first decade on staff working on the development of the museum’s present facility. He has served as Exhibits Director since 1998.
Dr. Laura E. Wilson
Title: Chief Curator
Other Title(s): Curator of Paleontology, Curator of Geology
Areas Overseen: Collections Department
Phone: 785-639-6192
Email: lewilson6@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Laura joined the Museum staff in July 2012 as the Sternberg’s paleontologist. She received her M.S. from Montana State University (2006) and her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder (2012). Her research focuses on reconstructing ecosystems from the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, with a particular interest in using bone histology to study vertebrate paleobiology. As the Curator of Paleontology, Laura is committed to safeguarding fossil specimens and their associated data housed at the Sternberg Museum, as well as utilizing the Museum’s fossil collections for public education and outreach.
http://www.fhsu.edu/geo/faculty/Wilson/
http://wilsonpaleolab.wordpress.com
Curtis Schmidt
Title: Zoology Collections Manager
Areas Overseen: Entomology, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Ornithology, and Invertebrate Zoology Collections
Phone: 785-650-2447
Email: cjschmidt@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Curtis became the museum’s first official Zoological Collections Manager in July of 2011. A Hays native and FHSU grad, Curtis received his BS in biological sciences in 1999 and his MS in 2004. Curtis is no stranger to the museum, as he began as a curatorial assistant in Herpetology in 1998, eventually becoming associate curator of Herpetology and Mammalogy before being appointed Zoological Collections Manager. Because of his involvement in many research projects, Curtis’ contributions to the Herpetology and Mammalogy collections are numerous. As Zoological Collections Manager, his primary responsibilities are the Entomology, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Mammalogy, and Ornithology Collections. Curtis also plays an active part in educational programming and exhibits.
Title: Paleontology Collections Manager
Dr. Reese Barrick
Title: Museum Director
Areas Overseen: Museum
Phone: 785-628-5664
Email: rebarrick@fhsu.edu
Additional Info: Reese is from the small town of Osage, Iowa and grew up a fan of the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and Tyrannosaurus rex. His interests led him to graduate research at the University of Southern California where he studied Miocene oceans and the thermal physiology of Tyrannosaurus rex. He taught paleontology for 8 years at North Carolina State University before embarking on the journey of working in museums. Reese enjoys the opportunities to bring the stories of the history of life on the planet to a greater audience that comes with running a natural history museum and the opportunities for research and working with students that arise from the museum being apart of Fort Hays State University.