Paleontology to Robotics is not a conventional career path, but if you’re Aja Carter ’10, Ph.D., your pathway has been anything but. When an opportunity to volunteer at The Academy of Natural Sciences at the age of 13 (with help from 2010 classmate Lauren Johnson’s mom!) presented itself, Carter realized that her love of dinosaurs could become her calling. But what cemented her academic focus was an AP Biology class taught by Upper School teacher Becky Pizzino 1760 where she had an opportunity to work with fossils.

Carter earned her undergrad degree in Biology at Drexel University and then finished her Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania - the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in that department. “It’s one of the oldest environmental sciences departments in the country so it was a real achievement for me,” Carter stated. She was then named the Vice Provost of Academic Diversity at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research took an interesting detour, and Carter is now completing her second postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University, in the Mechanical Engineering lab.

“While studying dinosaurs, I became fascinated by the way they walked,” Carter explained. “To answer my questions in Paleontology, I had to become an engineer. I would see these photos of the ‘earth through time’ in books and would want to know how some of these creatures, who were only a foot and half tall, got around giant fallen trees. I became interested specifically in dinosaur spines and wondered how they worked and realized I needed robotic models. It just so happens that roboticists are some of the best physical modelers I can think of, so I decided to become one also.”

And it all started at GA. “My senior project was also at the Academy of Natural Sciences where I worked on this large dinosaur and met the most helpful collaborators, some of whom I continue to work with,” said Carter. “GA was so essential to my path.”

Preparation is key to building a career in the sciences, and GA helped prepare Carter in remarkable ways.

“You know how in our schedule you have ‘frees’? That was HUGE,” Carter continued. “Learning how to manage my time, with all my requirements in high school, my homework, projects, tests, is what prepared me for college. I went to this workshop in college (regarding time management) and I said ‘I already know this. I’ve been doing it for years!’ Also, people are always impressed with how much and how quickly I can read. That goes back to my English classes at GA, especially Ms. Burnett’s class.

In addition to the amazing research that she is conducting, Carter is also a celebrity! You can see her in a National Geographic special called, “Secrets of the Dinosaurs: The Real Jurassic Americas | Drain the Oceans,” on YouTube.