November 2019 Cover Story: Hear Them Roar

Chevy Humphrey

Hear Them Roar

Chevy Humphrey and Victoria the T. rex join forces to teach our community about science

When Chevy Humphrey was a little girl in Texas, her parents had to find something to keep their precocious child occupied while they worked. Their solution was dropping her off at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which at the time had a big dinosaur skeleton in the lobby. While there are many amazing things to do in Houston (click here) it is unsurprising that seeing this dinosaur was a favourite of many, including Humphrey’s. “I was always enamored by it and I’d sit there after school,” Humphrey said, recalling her days being mesmerized by “Dipsy,” the diplodocus that now resides in the museum’s Morian Hall of Paleontology.

As a near-universal rule, kids dig dinosaurs, and Humphrey was not immune. They are big, get to destroy things in our imaginations, and leave cool skeletons. But while most children outgrow their interest, Humphrey – who is now The Hazel A. Hare president & CEO of Arizona Science Center – gets not only to rekindle her fascination, she gets to share it with tens of thousands of other people.

Victoria the T. rex is a special exhibition 66 million years in the making. Providing an intimate glimpse at one of the most ferocious and mysterious creatures ever to walk the earth, it will kick off its five-year global museum tour on November 17 … in Phoenix.

Yes, Phoenix.

As the past board chair of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, an international organization dedicated to fostering the understanding of science among increasingly diverse audiences, Humphrey knows the kind of life-changing impact an exhibition like this can make. And as a gifted student-turned-nonprofit-executive-turned-distinguished-community-leader, Humphrey has seen first-hand how curiosity coupled with access and hard work can open doors in life. So she wielded her power to open a big door to let Victoria tromp into our community.

“This is one of the most significant paleontological discoveries in decades and to have the exhibit premiere at Arizona Science Center is a privilege for our organization, our members and our community,” Humphrey said.

One of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever discovered, Victoria was found in 2013 on private land near Faith, South Dakota, an area famous for its dinosaur fossils. Following a painstaking eight-month excavation process, Victoria’s 66-million-year-old fossilized remains were brought to a lab in British Columbia, where she was meticulously studied and reconstructed bone by bone. (She was named for the Canadian town in which she was rebuilt.)

In the process, experts got a fascinating glimpse of Victoria’s life in the Cretaceous period. They learned she was a sub-adult between the ages of 18 and 25, meaning she had reached breeding age but wasn’t quite fully grown. Her well-preserved rib cage indicated she was on the bulky side, with experts estimating her weight at about 10.5 tons, or 21,000 pounds.

“That’s huge! I can’t even fathom 10 tons,” Humphrey said, recalling when she first heard about plans to make the massive Victoria the only T. rex skeleton to travel the globe at present, and the largest ever to tour. The exhibition is being produced by specimen owners Aber and Megan Whitcomb in partnership with IMG, a global museum exhibition producer with which Humphrey has a longstanding relationship.

The company behind such popular exhibitions as Pompeii: The Exhibition and Mummies of the World, IMG is renowned for sharing iconic, priceless treasures with the world and has been a valued partner to Arizona Science Center over the years. “We have been longtime colleagues and friends and have sort of grown up in this industry together,” said Humphrey, who has worked at Arizona Science Center for 21 years.

Humphrey has a kind of warm, enveloping charisma that draws people in, and she utilized it to get first dibs on the exhibition. “I told them that I was tired of them going into Chicago, L.A. and New York. Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country and we have a lot to offer. The citizens of Arizona should have the first opportunity to see something like this,” Humphrey said.

Now, thanks to Humphrey’s pitch, Victoria’s 199 bones have been loaded onto 18-wheelers headed to Arizona. The second most complete T. rex skeleton on record, Victoria the T. rex presents an opportunity to see cutting-edge science brought to life.

“The T. rex is the most iconic dinosaur known to man and the focal point of countless books, television shows and films,” said John Norman, IMG’s managing director of exhibitions. “The discovery of Victoria is truly remarkable and really changes our understanding of the species.”

Indeed, Victoria’s 199 bones tell a remarkable story. Her fossil maintained a complete skull, which is incredible considering that fewer than 60 T. rex specimens have ever been discovered, and many consist of just a few bones. By contrast, Victoria’s bones have a quality and color that is rarely seen – they are a deep, dark brown.

Researchers discovered an absorbed tooth in her jaw, which has only been seen in one other theropod, the group of dinosaurs to which T. rex belongs. They also found that two of Victoria’s teeth were growing out of the same socket, a condition that has never been documented before. Moreover, the intactness of her skull offered gripping insights into how she lived and probably died. (Spoiler alert: It may have involved the bite of a rival T. rex.)

Measuring nearly 40 feet in length and, in her mounted pose, approximately 12 feet tall, Victoria provided researchers an unparalleled opportunity to explore every facet of her life and death, and then to share their findings with the public. Heinrich Mallison, an expert in the 3D scanning of dinosaur fossils, brought the latest technology to the lab and scanned all of Victoria’s bones, creating the first 3D T. rex model of its kind.

Layer by prehistoric layer, visitors will get an up-close look at the complete anatomy – inside and out – of one of the world’s largest dinosaurs. And, thanks to 3D projection mapping, holograms and interactive video, visitors can get a sense of how Victoria experienced the world as a mother, hunter and protector.

This is all music to Humphrey’s ears, and why she lobbied so hard to bring the exhibition here. Humphrey knows that an exhibition like this can light a fire for learning, as Dipsy did for her as a girl. “I would go to that museum, and it added that extra ‘wow’ and made me want to study more in school,” she said.

Indeed, Humphrey is keen on using Victoria to ignite a passion for science – a quest she’s been on for decades. As a young student, her parents bused her to schools outside her neighborhood because they knew that would provide better opportunities. In turn, Humphrey would pass along what she learned.

“I would come back and say, ‘I’m going to teach you what I learned from all those rich people,'” she said. She set up a makeshift school in her garage to teach neighborhood kids, rewarding them with toys when they learned something new. “I would go back to my parents and say, ‘Can I have some more money to buy toys, because I really want to continue to conduct school in my garage.’ I just wanted to share what I learned with others,” she said.

Today Humphrey continues to do that, though on a much wider scale. More than 500,000 people, including 167,000 Arizona schoolchildren, visit Arizona Science Center each year. “Now I get to share what the science community is doing with others,” she said.

Accordingly, the education component of Victoria the T. rex is vital. Sari Custer, Arizona Science Center’s chief scientist, did extensive research to confirm that the exhibition was a good fit for the organization. And the education team is taking pains to ensure that the exhibition is well integrated into various scientific topics within the Science Center curriculum and programs.

Fortunately for Arizona Science Center, there’s a wealth of science to share. Victoria has been thoroughly documented through every step of her restoration and her bones have been studied by world experts in osteology, pathologies and biomechanics. She is currently the subject of multiple, yet-to-be-released scientific papers by some of the world’s most renowned paleontologists.

“The various insights gleaned from her unique and groundbreaking pathologies will be the subject of research for years to come,” said paleontologist Heinrich Mallison. “From a bite on her jaw that led to an unusually widespread infection to an absorbed tooth in the maxilla, it is clear she overcame many rivalries and injuries in the struggle to survive as an apex predator.”

Bringing an exhibition that combines pioneering science with storytelling is meaningful to Humphrey. “What’s so profound for me is that everyone will get to see what these scientists have seen,” she said. “It’s very rare to have a dinosaur exhibition that has real fossils, and it’s our job to provide that platform and opportunity for guests to learn about the world around them. It’s a personal passion for me.”

Humphrey’s ultimate goal is providing the resources to build a science-literate community. Over the years, she’s held six different jobs at Arizona Science Center, each of which has provided a different perspective. “What I love about what we do here is that we provide access and opportunities that sometimes young people would never have. We’re sort of that servant leader, providing a place for learning, a place to have aha moments, and a place to learn about the world around you,” she said. “That’s our job – to inspire, engage and educate curious minds to act on science.”

Since she was discovered, Victoria has been made an open source for study, and she will be touring the world to give the public a deeper understanding of both these prehistoric predators and the scientific universe. But before she clumps on, she will spend half a year here – time Humphrey hopes the community takes advantage of.

Humphrey’s excitement about the exhibition is palpable, calling to mind that young girl who spent her days gazing at a diplodocus and teaching school in her garage. “We’re going to immerse you in the life of Victoria. We’re going to use digital technology, but we’re also going to use hands-on experiences to help you walk in Victoria’s big feet,” she said. “That’s what we hope, that you walk out with a piece of Victoria and knowledge that will always stay with you.”

To learn more, go to azscience.org/Victoria.

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