After working as a research technician in cancer research at the Fred Hutchinson Institute in Seattle, GrrlScientist earned her PhD in Zoology at the University of Washington and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Ornithology Department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Whilst at AMNH, GrrlScientist began writing publicly about science and about her life as a scientist on Living the Scientific Life, which was quickly added to the ScienceBlogs lineup. This is a spin-off, and it was the first public blog hosted by NATURE where the author was permitted to write under a pseudonym. Maniraptora, a name suggested by Henry Gee, a senior editor at NATURE, was originally intended to present to the public research about birds, speciation and evolution published by NATURE magazine. This blog continues to evolve, story by story.