From NYU Abu Dhabi to Curating Natural History: A Journey Fueled by Curiosity

Flying with Lucy

A few days before the museum’s official opening in November 2025, Sara was tasked with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She traveled to Ethiopia to collect Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old fossilized skeleton of an early hominin.

“It’s very, very crazy to have the real Lucy here, on loan, in Abu Dhabi,” Sara says. “Because it’s not often you get to see these things.”

A big part of Sara’s job is identifying what the museum wants to acquire and building a research collection. In this role Sara has traveled to Scotland’s Orkney Islands to see fossils. She spent a month in the United States visiting quarries and fossil sites learning how they are collected. Additionally, she’s attended international conferences in the Netherlands and beyond.

A Path to NYU Abu Dhabi

Sara learned about NYU Abu Dhabi as a high school student through the Summer Academy, a program designed to prepare students living in Abu Dhabi for college. “The Summer Academy was a very big help and was kind of my introduction to NYU Abu Dhabi,” she explains.

When Sara arrived at NYU Abu Dhabi, her path was anything but linear. She worked hard to understand what subjects she wanted to study. Initially declaring Physics as her major, she switched to Biology just before the end of her second year.

Sara says two specific courses at NYU Abu Dhabi impacted her decisions. First was a first-year class called Art of Narrative Science with Professor Charles Siebert. “This course was my first time encountering science being explained through normal words, not very academic scientific words,” she said.

Next, was a J Term course called Age of Warhol with Professor Bryan Waterman. This course takes students into the world of museums through the lens of a single artist. “That was my introduction to this world [of museums],” she adds.

“I knew I wanted to do something with science, but not necessarily pursue academic research in depth,” Sara says. The museum, she explains, is a nice medium. Here, she’s able to do what she loves: share science with others.

Making Science Accessible

Sara graduated with a major in Biology and a minor in Heritage Studies in 2022. The following year she joined the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. At the time, she was only the second full-time member on staff at the museum.

Three years later, Sara is now the first member of the museum’s community science team where she works to bring the science of fossils and biodiversity to the widest possible audience. What’s more, her focus is making sure the specialized science that fills the museum’s galleries is understandable to everyone who walks through the door. Sharing scientific concepts to students, children, and the public is a core part of her role. Seeing children excited to see dinosaurs and watching them joyfully run around the galleries are among Sara’s favorite moments on the job.

“The impact we have is right in our face,” Sara explains. “We’re able to see how we can impact people, inspire them, make them want to do what we do, or learn about the things we do.”

Looking ahead, while Sara plans on continuing to grow the community science program at Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, she is also exploring postgraduate study.

Thank you, NYU Abu Dhabi News for sharing this story with us. If you’d like to read it in its original format, you can find it here.