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Month: May 2025

A Summer of VicPS

The monthly VicPS meetings are on summer hiatus and the focus is on fieldtrips, public education, and the Symposium.

June 15 – Field Trip, TBD (Lead: Corbin Rolfe)

Join Corbin Rolfe as he leads his first official VicPS fieldtrip!  Please look for an email from Corbin with details of the trip, closer to the date.

June 22 – PUBLIC EDUCATION:  Cowichan Valley Nature Kids (lead:  Jerri Wilkins)

VicPS has been invited back for a second year to provide a ‘fossil field day’ for kids in the Cowichan Valley. Last year our volunteers had a blast introducing kids to the ancient marine life on Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan. If you like participating in public education, Jerri will reach out closer to the date seeking volunteers. No experience necessary – we all learn by doing!  

July 20 –  Field Trip (lead:  Jerri Wilkins)

We’ll visit one of the most beautiful and productive sites on our annual field trip schedule, and one Jerri looks forward to visiting every year.  It’s a moderate walk and a good site for families, and for swimming (sometimes on purpose). Look for the invite closer to the date.

July 24 – PUBLIC EDUCATION: Island View and You (lead: Carol Barbon)

This is our annual opportunity to join the Capital Regional District and nature-based organizations for a day of public education focused on the past and present animals and ecosystems of Island View Beach (Cowichan Head) on the Saanich Peninsula. Closer to the date Carol will be looking for volunteers to hang out at Island View Beach for the day….tough job! If you attended the May 18th fieldtrip, this is your opportunity to test your memory by sharing knowledge with others.  Jerri know who you are… we will be in touch!

August 10 – Field Trip (lead:  Jerri Wilkins)

This site on the shore is easily accessible, and for those with patience and a good eye, it can reveal well-preserved gastropods and occasionally an ammonite.  Details will be provided in a fieldtrip guide closer to the date.

 August 21 – PUBLIC EDUCATION: Slithery, Slimy & Scaly (lead:  Carol Barbon)

For this event, we join the Capital Regional District and nature-based organizations at Elk/Beaver Lake to talk about all things slithery, slimy and scaly. VicPS brings a new perspective to this annual event, exploring with kids why we don’t see snakes and frogs and lizards in the local fossil record.  Or do we? Volunteer to help Carol, and you’ll learn the answers. She will reach out for volunteers closer to the date.

August 21-24 – BCPA-VIPS Paleontological Symposium 2025

This bi-annual meeting of paleontological researchers is four days of all things paleo as it relates to Vancouver Island and BC.  Presentations on the latest scientific research, scientific posters, workshops and fieldtrips and lots of like-minded professionals and enthusiasts to meet.  Check out the details below, and sign up today:

15th BC Paleontological Symposium 2025 v2 – Vancouver Island Paleontological Society

June 1: A Celebration of Life for Mike Trask

Mike was instrumental in advancing paleontology in BC having discovered the recently named elasmosaur with his daughter, Heather, in 1988. This transformational find precipitated the creation of the British Columbia Paleontological Alliance. Traskasaura sandrae now stands as our official provincial fossil emblem.

Michael John Trask

Jan 7, 1956 – May 15, 2025

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Courtenay and District Museum & Palaeontology Centre on June 1st at 1:30 pm.

Everyone is welcome.

PUBLISHED! Botanical Beach new Chimaeroid fish egg capsule

Congratulations to VicPS member Marji Johns and her colleagues! 

This month they published a research paper on the rare egg capsule discovered at Botanical Beach in 2022 by a citizen scientist.  Paid members may read about the backstory on discovery of this specimen in the BCPA online journal at First Record of a late Eocene–early Oligocene chimaeroid fish egg – BC Paleontological Alliance. 

Image courtesy https://cdnsciencepub.com

In this just-published paper, Marji et al have identified the egg capsule to be from a long-nosed chimaeroid fish similar to today’s living ‘spookfish’, not a ratfish as surmised when it was collected.  It’s a good reminder not to jump to conclusions about the identity of specimens we find, and to rely on experts to make the identification (ID is commonly a lengthy and detailed research process)! 

This research also highlights the value of citizen scientists.  In this case, the citizen scientist was visiting from the USA, saw an exceptional specimen in a BC park, took photos, and reached out to the proper authorities who then collaborated and collected the specimen carefully and legally.

The new paper, titled: ‘First chimeroid fish egg capsule (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) from upper Eocene Carmanah Group strata, West Coat of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada‘, is published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 

First chimaeroid fish egg capsule (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) from upper Eocene Carmanah Group strata, West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada .

The research paper citation is:

Johns, M.J., Fischer, J., Makahnouk, W.R.M., Nyborg, T., Deom, E., Bowen, D., and Bartlett, R. 2025. First chimaeroid fish egg capsule (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) from upper Eocene Carmanah Group strata, West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.  Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 62(5): 1013–1042 (2025) | dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2024-0096.

Copies of the paper can be obtained from the CJES at their web page (the link is: https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjes-2024-0096 where there also is a large photo of the specimen) or by direct request for the research paper from Marji.

Congratulations Marji!  We know how much work is involved in publishing, and VicPS is pleased to have played a small part in helping to retrieve the specimen from the beach.

VicPS monthly meeting, Wednesday May 14, 2025 @ 7:30 pm

Join your VicPS peers online this week for a pictorial tour of recent events, including

  • fossils specimens found during the April 20th field trip to Nanaimo,
  • photos and videos from a scientific field trip in Cobble Hill earlier this month with Dr. Jim Haggart, Geological Survey of Canada, and
  • an update on other ways VicPS members are supporting science and scientists.

Paid members will have recieved the link to attend via email.

VicPS field trip: Sunday, May 18, 2025

The VicPS fieldtrip this month will be close to Victoria: on the Saanich Peninsula. Paid members will have received details concerning the field trip as an email.

Please follow the emailed instructions and RSVP your intention to participate.

VicPS now has 40 members, the largest membership in the history of VicPS!