Chase Brownstein, Pierson '23
Digging for the Truth: Seeing History Through Scientific Glasses
By Lynne Kim
Many would agree that Chase Brownstein is a scientist living in the now, but immersing himself in the past.
When I first met Chase, a rising sophomore in Pierson College, we bonded over our love for grape juice, but little did I know his interests lie in the vine of life and its origins. Chase is a prospective Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (E&EB) major and his list of interests range from paleontology and macroevolution to mountaineering and art history. From the early age of 13, Chase has been conducting research at the Stamford Museum, conveniently located in his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut. All throughout high school, he researched eastern North American natural history, specifically the animals of an isolated landmass called Appalachia, which existed for about 30 million years at the end of the age of non-avian dinosaurs. Provided with the resources and specimens, Chase has ventured into biogeography and extinction all throughout high school.
For Chase, questions about the gaps of uncertainty in the evolutionary timeline and the changes in the diversity of life are constantly on his mind. As he explained to me the topic of the “background extinction rate,” I couldn't help but remember that there was always an aspect of history or extinction in our conversations outside of an academic setting. We laughed about an encounter at The Acorn in Silliman College this past semester where he was wielding a mystery manuscript the size of his torso. It was a geological map from Daniel Brinkman, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Peabody Museum, who was giving away some of his compositions. Over coffee, we discussed the Peabody Museum renovations, scheduled to reopen in 2023 and the many specimens that are to come once construction is over. Chase seemed ecstatic about a hanging display of a turtle chased by an extinct aquatic lizard (but nothing like the lizards we see today; these reptiles grew up to 49 feet!) called a mosasaur, and I was too. Many new exhibitions on extinct species prompted a conversation about the cost of the present human environment, more accelerated than Earth’s immense timeline, and how it would affect the future. And back to the interview months after our cafe chat, it's safe to say that Chase looks forward to what the future will reveal about our past.
Inquisitive about so many “-ologies”—paleontology, neontology, ichthyology, the list goes on—Chase is involved with multiple projects at Yale. In addition to many papers in review, he is researching with Professor Thomas Near, Chair of E&EB and Curator of Icythyology at the Peabody Museum, on the evolutionary history of a certain group of fish. But although Chase finds fishes to be fascinating friends, he is also looking beyond fishes to theropods—or, in layman terms, “dinosaurs.” To be more specific, the term theropod is used to refer to a specific group of dinosaurs characterized by hollow bones and three-toed limbs, like the infamous T. rex. His work on theropods, conducted together with researchers at Yale and the American Museum of Natural History, should also provide important clues to the distinct anatomy of birds, which emerged from the dinosaur lineage. From fishes to dinosaurs to birds, Chase is always working on a new project that opens up his horizons, hopefully painting a bigger picture of evolution.
Much of what Chase is researching requires more than just copious amounts of reading, historical analysis, and sample observations. When making connections between different species and animals, qualities of overlapping characteristics must be input into matrices, then coded. For example, to compare the anatomy of birds, the curvature of a claw over a range of species can be documented as a character value, setting 0 as no curve and 1 as fully curved. Once entered into a phylogenetics computer program, the different measurements can be plotted over time to test for different theories. After multiple questions and explanations, I finally understood the role of computer science and data analysis in the field of paleontology and gained a newfound appreciation for Chase’s many talents across all academic fields. These diverse interests found their way into our interview through his eagerness to share interesting facts. Mentions of the aurochs, an extinct predecessor of cattle from the 17th century, and the Tully Monster, a foot-long marine predator dating back to 300 million years ago, fueled my hour long post-interview google search for many of these creatures fit to star in an Avatar movie.
Thus, I was eager to ask how he started in all these different fields. From a young age, he frequented the Stamford Museum and Nature Center and the Peabody Museum where he actively learned by voicing all his questions, comments, and concerns. Coincidentally, in high school, he wrote a book review for Systematic Biology—edited by Thomas Near, whom Chase would soon encounter again, the second time as a college student seeking guidance in Near’s lab.
“Getting interested means you accept failure and getting things wrong,” Chase says. It does seem like people in the scientific field are often afraid of making mistakes, but failure is a common occurrence that we must learn to appreciate. The final product in his field of research is either a published paper or a rejected paper, but a true inquirer appreciates the process more than the product itself. And often, this process of gathering data, sharing discoveries, and piecing together the puzzle is a “joint adventure.” All members of the team should be on the same page, while making headway individually through constant and active practice. Chase has sometimes even thought of solutions and ideas to some of his questions while falling asleep and going about on his regular day. It’s obvious that Chase Brownstein has a genuine, all-consuming passion for his work, which is both awe-inspiring and humbling to see in a friend and peer.