Collections Manager

Mike Stoller comes to CCP as truly a jack-of-all-trades. Having always had a piqued interest in the natural world, he eventually earned his B.S. in Geology from Indiana University focused in the field of Paleontology. Before his time here at CCP he spent a good number of years studying and working with specimens ranging in age from mid-late Ordovician invertebrates, to Pleistocene proboscideans uncovered from sites all over the world. Mike has worked in numerous labs and collection spaces (Indiana University, University of Michigan, GRC San Salvador, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art) inevitably finding himself drawn to the warm, sunny shores of Charleston, SC. Shortly after moving to the Lowcountry Mike found his niche within the local scientific community. Now focusing on the outreach and education of the public, and the preservation of the Lowcountry’s incredibly fossil-rich history, he hopes to help bridge the gap between the academic world and the local community.

Community Coordinator and Volunteer Preparator

Originally from Kentucky, Erin has a background in Business Management and Human Resources, but spent most of her free time volunteering for various non-profits.  Primarily assisting organizations that served individuals with health issues, and developmental or physical disabilities, some of Erin's volunteer roles included managing volunteers, coordinating logistics for events, developing materials for workplace success, and creating keepsakes for patients and their families.  

Once in South Carolina, Erin discovered a love for (or addiction to) fossil hunting, and now spends most of her free time walking in creeks or expanding her fossil knowledge.  As a perfect way to pair her new hobby with her passion for helping non-profits, Erin will help CCP in the field, lab, and anywhere else where she can be of assistance. 

Research Associate

Founder and Chief Paleontologist @ Charleston Fossil Adventures

The owner and principal of Charleston Fossil Adventures, LLC is Ashby Gale. Ever since he was in the stroller, Ashby has had a connection with South Carolina's shorelines and the fossils collected along our beaches. Ashby is a graduate of Appalachian State University where he earned a degree in Environmental Science. In 2014, he took a job with SCPRT as the Interpretive Ranger at Edisto Beach State Park where he curated their collection of Pleistocene vertebrate remains and became the Park's leading authority on paleontology. From 2014-2020, Ashby worked with his parents to publish A Beachcomber's Guide to Fossils, which sold out prior to its publication date. Ashby has presented at numerous conferences on his research, both regionally and internationally (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Brisbane, Australia, 2019). His current research focuses on marine vertebrates from the Rupelian Ashley Formation. It's hard for Ashby to pick just one favorite fossil in his collection, but his top three currently are a tooth from Saurornitholestes (a small raptor), a baby mammoth molar, and an articulated set of eagle ray teeth with feeding wear facets.

Charleston Fossil Adventures was founded in 2016 to address the Lowcountry's need for an ethical commercial paleontology company. The team of paleontologists at CFA provide in-depth tours for families and school groups to find fossils, while promoting science communication, educating the public about South Carolina's regulations for fossil collection, and serving as ambassadors for area institutions and museums to facilitate donations of scientifically significant fossils.

Board Chair

Founder, Charleston Center for Paleontology

Dr. Elizabeth Kane is the Board Chair and Founder of The Charleston Center for Paleontology. Previously, she was the founder and CEO of Cupboard, a tech-centered e-commerce company, and the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Natalist, a femtech start-up that was acquired by Everly Health. Dr. Kane serves on the Faculty Board of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. Dr. Kane started her career as a neuroscientist at Harvard University, where she was a Junior Fellow at The Rowland Institute, studying the neural mechanisms underlying innate behaviors in fruit fly larvae.

Dr. Kane has been featured on The Doctors TV, Cheddar TV, DigSouth, Like A Girl: Dare to Dream, The Better You Podcast, The Juna Women Podcast, and The Infertile AF Podcast. Dr. Kane earned her Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University and her BA in Biology from New York University.

Secretary

Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Director of Graduate Studies, Harvard University

Ben de Bivort's interest in the natural world started early, when he was a member of mineral and fossil club in elementary school. He studied Mathematics and Biology at Duke before conducting PhD research on the neurobiological basis of behavior in fruit flies in Harvard's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. He conducted postdoctoral research on arachnid systematics and morphometric phylogenetics with Gonzalo Giribet. He then started an independent research lab as a Junior Fellow of the Rowland Institute at Harvard studying the neurobiological basis of behavior in insects, a research program that has continued to the current day, when he is a Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.

Treasurer

Executive Director, Charleston Legal Access

Lana Kleiman is the executive director of Charleston Legal Access, South Carolina’s first
and only non-profit, sliding-scale law firm whose mission is to expand access to justice by providing affordable and quality legal services to those who do not qualify for free legal services but cannot afford a private attorney at market rates. Lana began her law career as a litigation associate at DLA Piper, LLP, a large corporate law firm in New York City, following her graduation from Brooklyn Law School. She found her passion for expanding access to legal services after taking a year to do pro-bono work at a non-profit organization. As a first-generation American and daughter of Russian immigrants, she readily accepted the opportunity to work in the Immigrant Protection Unit at New York Legal
Assistance Group (“NYLAG”), one of New York City’s leading nonprofits providing legal
services to low-income New Yorkers. She also worked in the Family Law Unit, representing
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trauma, as well as taking on the role of Coordinator of Project Eden, which worked with the Orthodox Jewish community to raise awareness of domestic violence.

Lana currently serves on the Board of My Sister’s House and on the Advisory Committee for a new project—The Above the Line Network (ATLN); a community of leaders from the U.S., Canada, and beyond working together to transform the delivery of legal services to the underserved middle-class. She also served on the Steering Committee for the South Carolina Statewide Civil Legal Needs Assessment commissioned by the SC Access to Justice Commission. Lana is a 2019 Riley Fellow with Furman University’s Diversity Leaders Initiative. She is the proud recipient of the 2021 Trident United Way Nonprofit Leader of the Year Award and was named a Leader in Law in 2022 by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly. She lives in Charleston with her husband and two daughters.

Founder, Mace Brown Museum of Natural History at The College of Charleston

Mace is life-long collector and expert preparator of fossils. He donated his personal collection of more than 1,500 rare fossil specimens, valued at more than $1.6 million, to the College of Charleston of to establish the Mace Brown Natural History Museum. He worked closely with museum staff to personally design exhibits, and has taught classes in advanced fossil preparation. He possesses an honorary doctorate for his considerable impact on the conservation and research of the Charleston Tri-County Area’s paleontology.