Donald R. Prothero has taught college paleontology and geology for thirty-five years at the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Occidental College, Vassar College, and Knox College. He is currently adjunct professor of geological sciences at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, adjunct professor of astronomy and earth sciences at Mt. San Antonio College, and research associate in vertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He is the author of more than thirty-five books.. He has also published more than 300 scientific papers. In 1991, he received the award for Outstanding Paleontologist Under the Age of 40. In 2013, he was awarded the James Shea Award by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for outstanding writing and editing in the geosciences