Here are the dates of the proposed VicPS field trips. Members will have received details regarding the planned destinations. Feedback to our president on this topic is encouraged, and RSVP to the field trip leader is desired prior to each trip.
On Friday, April 19th, at 6:30pm (PDT), the Alberta Palaeontological Society’s April keynote presenter is Dr. Jason Anderson, who will be providing an update on his research regarding Romer’s Gap.
VicPS members will have received Zoom meeting attendance details in their email.
You are invited to join the VIPS link for the presentation,The Mary Anning Story “Struck by Lightning”, the amazing true life story about Mary Anning, fossil huntress and first woman of science.
This story occurs about 200 years ago at the time of the birth of paleontology, 1799-1847.
The scene is along the rugged south west coast of England in the little town of Lyme Regis in the 1800s. This area is possibly the most popular area in England to collect fossils. Today this 95 mile long stretch of coastline, which is now referred to as the “Jurassic Coast”, has over one million visitors each year.
The cliffs erode at a very rapid rate and every year expose literally tens of thousands of fossils. This is a fossil hunter’s dream.
Now fossil fair 2024 is in the rearview mirror, here are some words from our president about the event:
The VicPS annual Fossil Fair at Swan Lake was March 23rd-24th. About 250 people attended, down almost half from some previous years, but enthusiasm and interaction were up, and more than 100 kids participated in the annual scavenger hunt to find specimens in the collection. The National Geographic Fossil Dig/ID kits were a big hit among this year’s winners, as was the ‘Happy Little Dinosaur’ board game. … New this year was a poster about the Nigel House vertebrate fossils found near Swan Lake. A shout-out to Edward Davies for sharing dozens of high-resolution slides and photos from which we were able to put together a poster. Fossil ID is always a favourite among volunteers and this year IDs offered a few very exciting moments. We had the highest number of fossils brought to Fossil Fair for identification in recent memory. A few notable specimens:
Mt. Tzouhalem, Duncan – Hexanchid shark teeth, several Glyptoxoceras specimens with helix intact, and what appears to be a cross-section of a coral (button, hexacoral—still seeking verification). …
Gulf Islands – A brachiopod from Russell Island. We don’t get many specimens brought in from the Islands (other than Hornby and Saltspring), so this was interesting.
Bone material, Northern BC – What appears to be marine reptile. As is often the case, the exact location of the discovery is unclear, as this was found some time ago by a family member of the person who brought it in for identification. The family is trying to establish providence.
We brought the RBCM and GSC into the conversation to assist with identification. Those conversations are ongoing.
This year, the RBCM and Fossil Management Office were unable to participate in Fossil Fair due to other commitments, and a few other usual volunteers were unable to attend. VicPS member Kalene (who works at DinoLab) offered up a few volunteers, plus an Elasmosaurus paddle (full scale) model (thanks, Kalene!). DinoLab’s Kirsten had the kids doing Elasmosaurus ‘high-fives’ and it was a great opportunity to showcase the new provincial fossil and hand out lapel buttons provided by the Fossil Mangement Office (thank you, Elisabeth and Genivieve for the buttons!). Serendipitously, the DinoLab preparator who volunteered on Sunday (Jake) was the only Fossil Fair volunteer experienced in working with bone, and in particular marine reptile specimens, and recognized the specimen brought in for identification as likely marine reptile. His hunch was later supported by vertebrate experts in our network. As is our usual way of working, VicPS members came together in the week before the event to ensure lots of volunteers were on hand when the event weekend arrived. Thanks to John, Carol, Caleb, Justin and Thor for participating. …
The Alberta Paleontological Society’s Paleo Symposium takes place Saturday, March 16 from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm MDT ( 8:00 am to 3:30 pm PDT) at Mount Royal University.
Please view the Paleo 2024 Flyer that briefly describes the symposium, and forward this flyer to people who might be interested in attending. The event is open to the general public.
Please make note of the Paleo 2024 Speaker schedule, below, and note that times are all Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).
Lectures will be presented nearby in the Jenkins Theatre, located in F Wing and accessible from Main Street through a hallway next to Cougars Campus Store.
Please look for the virtual meeting connection details in the email to all VicPS members.
The Alberta Palaeontological Society has invited us to their next meeting.
We have two keynote presenters this month, the first is S. Amber Whitebone, MSc, PhD Candidate, University of New England. The title of her presentation is “Bone Cells to Big Dinos: Using Liquid Crystal Polarimetry as a New Tool to Learn about Fossil Vertebrates”. I have attached her abstract and biography. [below]
The present snowy conditions at certain places up island may cause the field trip plan to change. Please ensure you check for emailed updates about the field trip before you set off to join us on Sunday morning.
When:
9 AM, Sunday, January 21st, 2024
Travel:
Meet at Helmcken Park & Ride at 9 AM to arrange carpooling.
Where:
Paid members will please check their email for more details.
Equipment:
Hammer large enough to break concretions, chisel, wrapping paper, masking tape, marker, GPS and notebook for recording details.
Bring lunch, water, snacks, dress for changes in weather and wear shoes appropriate for gravel, rock and slopes.
The January 2024 VicPS meeting will be virtual only. Zoom participation details have been sent to VicPS members in an email.
The in-person meeting at UpTown Shopping Centre has been cancelled due to a threat of snow.
The topic for the evening is Baja B.C. Revisited, a one-hour segment of video from a 26-part series on the latest research into the origin of the Nanaimo Group/Nanaimo Basin. The series was recorded and aired in 2022/23 by University of Washington professor Nick Zentner. The 26-part series covers 4 different hypotheses for the origin of the Nanaimo Basin, interviewing a variety of experts conducting the research. This series became of interest afte Dr. Shahin Dashtgard’s 2022 presentation to VicPS regarding the challenges of interpreting the Nanaimo Group.
Other upcoming events may be discussed, as time and interest allow:
January 21st field trip
February 7th AGM, at which we need a new volunteer to take over the Treasurer role from our long-serving member Scott MacPhail (and thank you Scott!)
Welcome to 2024 and another year of exploring Vancouver Island.
Our website now has a page that shows the Google calendar for the vicpalaeo@gmail.com account that our president generally uses to communicate by email with members. All those events that we’re being notifed about can be found listed there. Note that field trips will continue to lack info about where we’re going; look to your email for those details as the field trip date approaches.
From the top level menu, Events->Calendar of Events should get you to https://vicpalaeo.org/events/.
