This site contains information about me and my research on fossil vertebrates. My main interests are in the evolution of cetaceans (whales and dolphins), the timing and nature of evolutionary diversification and radiation, phylogenetic analysis, and functional morphology. If any of this sounds interesting to you, please read on! If you don't know what any of it means, hopefully you will find out.

I was born on January 30, 1968 in the small town of Burlington, Wisconsin to Marjorie A. and Roman F. Uhen. I attended school at St. Mary's grade school and high school (now Catholic Central High School). I went on to college at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh where I received a BS with a major in geology and minor in geology in 1990. I continued my education at the University of Michigan where I received a M.S. in 1993 and Ph.D. in 1996, both in geology. My graduate advisor at Michigan was Philip D. Gingerich, Director of the Museum of Paleontology. In the fall of 1996 I was hired as the Curator of Paleontology and Zoology at the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I also hold appointments of Adjunct Research Scientist at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor; and Research Associate of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC.