Regular Monthly Program Oct. 14

Holding double majors in Art & Design (emphasis in traditional 2D animation) and Geosciences (emphasis in paleontology), Diane N. Tran seamlessly blends high-level artistic discipline with scientific rigor.  She is an accomplished illustrator, graphic designer, paleo-artist, educator, and animator on Disney's Lilo & Stitch (2002), its television series, and direct-to-video spinoffs, and a filmmaker on Frontier Crucible (2025), which reached #1 on Amazon’s Most Watched Westerns.  A dedicated member of the Dallas Paleontological Society since 2018, Miss Tran served as editor of the newsletter The Fossil Record (2020–2021) and currently works with the DPS Education Program. She also serves as Graphics Head and Scientific Advisor for Billings Productions, Inc. (The Dinosaur Company), designing scientifically accurate, life-size animatronic dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures for museums, zoos, and theme parks globally.

Title:  "The Geological Jackpot: The Science, Secrets, and Scarcity of Fossilization" 

Summary:  The odds of an individual organism becoming a fossil are roughly one in a million. This presentation comprehensively examines taphonomic pathways, physical and chemical modes of preservation, and the full spectrum of fossil types and subtypes that bridge deep time.