Volunteer Spotlight: Dr. Piero Verro

October 16, 2017 by Allyson Lambert • Exhibitions, Volunteers

What a T. rex sees

A museum visitor explores an exhibit that replicates the vision of a T. rex

Here’s something you may not have thought of: How would you stack up against a Tyrannosaurus rex? Do you think you could outwit a monster ten times your size?

This was one of the questions that Neurologist Dr. Piero Verro addressed in preparation for The Discovery’s last Social Science: Speed Dating Sue that took place on September 16. As one of our valued volunteers, Dr. Verro has donated over 188 hours since February 2016, from preparing demonstration activities, to performing research duties for the museum.

Dr. Verro has had a rich career in the medical field serving as the Professor of Neurology at the University of California, Davis. In addition to teaching, he also practiced at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. His educational background includes a medical degree with a specialization in neurology, and a master’s degree in electric and biomedical engineering. Using his background in medicine and neurology, Dr. Verro has applied his specialized knowledge and talents to enriching science education and exploration at The Discovery.

According to Dr. Verro, volunteering at The Discovery gives him a chance to be around people in a way that contributes to their education and growth. As someone who highly respects the power of education and knowledge, he enjoys being in an environment where learning and discovery are encouraged.

“Volunteering at The Discovery gives me a chance to teach, which is something that was a big part of my role as a professor at UC Davis: I can thus continue an activity which I enjoy and which I value.” — Dr. Piero Verro

When our extraordinary traveling exhibition, A T. rex Named Sue, arrived at The Discovery, Dr. Verro was very interested in helping educate our visitors about the neurology behind Sue. He worked closely with Meghan Schiedel, our Curriculum Developer, to create a hands-on, interactive activity for museum visitors that compared a T. rex brain to a human brain. During this activity, visitors actually held and compared models of the two brains, which provided them with a fun and engaging learning experience, while also teaching them interesting facts along the way.

Here are just a few facts that Dr. Verro helped us understand about a T. rex brain vs. a human brain:

The brain of a T. rex was among the largest, relative to its body mass, of all the dinosaurs. This likely made it one of the most intelligent of its species.
rex endocasts (internal casts of the hollow brain casings) suggest its brain had a very large portion dedicated to the olfactory, or smell function, which would give it an exceptional sense of smell.
In humans, the olfactory (smell) bulbs are only 5% of the total brain volume, reflecting the relative unimportance of this sensory modality for human survival.
rex also had a very long hearing organ or cochlea, which likely gave it good hearing capabilities.
While rex has the advantage when it comes to the size of their olfactory bulbs, the human cerebrum, or topmost part of the human brain, is huge in comparison to that of T. rex.
In summary, rex would likely have been able to out-smell, and perhaps out-hear us humans, and it was definitely far stronger than us. But we humans could have outwitted it.

So, there you have it: You could outwit a T. rex!

Volunteers like Dr. Verro not only help educate our museum visitors and staff, they bring unique talents and skills that help strengthen our organization and further our mission in the community.

Each year, we enjoy welcoming new volunteers to our program. If you have a special talent or skill to share, we’d love to hear about it! We are always looking for new volunteers from all backgrounds. From artists, to educators, to engineers, our volunteers bring a wide variety of skills and different areas of study and career backgrounds to the table. And we can use them all!

Your support of The Discovery helps build an excellent and skilled volunteer base that can inspire every generation of learners through amazing science experiences. Please consider making a donation to support our Volunteer and Internship Program at The Discovery.