Featured Speakers

Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga

President and Director
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dr. Bettison-Varga arrived at the Natural History Family of Museums in October 2015. She oversees NHMLA in Exposition Park, the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Hancock Park, and the William S. Hart Museum in Newhall. Her immediate goals include advancing the outreach and education around urban nature and citizen science, as well as the re-imagining of the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, where visitors can make connections between Ice Age Los Angeles 50,000 years ago, and climate change today.

A geologist who received her PhD from the University of California, Davis, Dr. Bettison-Varga served six years as President and W.M. Keck Foundation Presidential Chair at Scripps College in Claremont, California. There, she enhanced the visibility of the college, implemented policies to foster greater transparency and community engagement, initiated strategic planning for diversity and sustainability, and inaugurated a comprehensive capital campaign