The U.S. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has chosen Dr. R.Barsbold, director of the Paleontological Institute at the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, to receive this year’s Romer-Simpson Medal, its highest award given for “sustained and outstanding scholarly excellence and service to the discipline”. Dr. Barsbold is the 23rd recipient of the prestigious medal. He is also only the second Asian to receive the honor, after Chinese paleontologist Zhou Ming-Zhen.

Dr. Barsbold has been working as head of the Mongolia-Russia joint paleontological research group for 40 years.