The new dinosaur hall at Carnegie Museum of Natural History is ready for its public reopening Nov. 21. Included in the $36 million renovation is a new atrium housing the exhibit, repositioned dinosaur skeletons and new period-specific animal and plant life surrounding the "Dinosaurs in Their Time" fossils. There's also new carpeting, computer touch screens and other educational materials.

The expanded dinosaur hall has required an extensive amount of work over the course of more than five years -- from the 2002 master plan, through fund-raising, to the hiring of architects in 2004 and the main exhibition space closing in spring 2005 for the construction phase.

Here are some of the key players in this venture:

MATT LAMANNA

• Age: 32
• Carnegie position: Assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology
• Exhibit role: Head scientific adviser
• Why dinosaurs? "I was 4 years old when I told my parents I wanted to be a paleontologist. So I'm like a little kid who never grew up."

Why the exhibit mostly uses casts of dinosaur skulls

CAROL DOWNEY FULLER

• Age:46
• Carnegie position: Carnegie Museum project manager
• Exhibit role: Project manager
• Why dinosaurs? "I was hired when this project was in its initial stages and it's a pretty magical project to be working on. Back in my schooling I was a rock geek and went fossil hunting. It's good to link to that."

JIM SENIOR

• Age: 59
• Carnegie position: Chairman of exhibits division in Museum of Natural History
• Exhibit role: Design, development of display concepts and placement of dinosaurs
• Why dinosaurs? "I've been working at the Carnegie for 36 years, and always had a fascination with natural history. Dinosaurs are a part of it. They're the icing on the cake. We've been waiting a long time to upgrade the dinosaurs and this is our big opportunity."

Photo by Craig Cutler
Copyright Craig Cutler