Emlyn Koster

Emlyn Koster is a geoscientist, museologist, and self-described Earth-Human Ecosystem synthesist. He holds a PhD in geology and built his early career in the earth sciences, later serving as the 50th anniversary board president of the Geological Association of Canada. Over several decades he led four major nature and science museums in North America: the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Liberty Science Center in the New York metropolitan region (adjacent to Ellis Island), and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. He has also worked in connection with three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Since around 2010 his work has focused on how the geology and museum professions can illuminate humanity’s escalating disruption of the Earth System, and since 2011 he has presented and published widely on the Anthropocene as a transdisciplinary, holistic framework. He currently serves as an Honorary Professor in the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. His co-authored publications include a 2024 article, The Anthropocene Event as a Cultural Zeitgeist in the Earth-Human Ecosystem, in the Journal of Geoethics and Social Geosciences. His recognitions include an Alumni of Excellence Award (2019) from the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa, induction into France’s Ordre des Palmes academiques, and a Humanitarian of the Year honour from the American Conference on Diversity. He has contributed to international climate dialogue, including work supporting the recognition of museums as agents for public education about the climate crisis.