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Author: Tom

VicPS field trip: Sunday, January 21, 2024: Possible changes due to weather

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.

VicPS November Meeting: Tuesday, Jan 16th, 2024 @ 7 pm: VIRTUAL ONLY

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.

 

New VicPS Calendar

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/.

AB Paleo Society Presentation: Friday, January 19, 2024 @ 6:30 pm PST

VicPS members have been graciously forwarded the Zoom meeting details to attend the AB Paleo Society presentation by Kathleen Rust, titled, “Reading the Fossil Record: how fossils from China reveal the origin and evolutionary history of the last primate in North American before the arrival of humans.” 

The presentation abstract and a short bio for Kathleen rust are presented here. Look to your email from vicpaleo@gmail.com for details as to how to attend. 

Kathleen Rust Abstract Biography January 19 2024Download

VicPS AGM: Feb 7, 2024

Please make plans to attend our annual general meeting (AGM), at which time paid members can elect the next board of directors.

What: Annual General Meeting
When: Wednesday, Feb 7, 2024, time TBD once Zoom meeting is booked
Where: Virtual Meeting via Zoom

SEEKING NOMINATIONS FOR TREASURER:

Long serving member and volunteer Scott MacPhail would like to take a well-earned break from the role of Treasurer. We are looking for nominations for this role. The work of our Treasurer involves:

  • Accepting/depositing annual member dues
  • Maintaining the membership list
  • Providing an update of accounts at quarterly board meetings
  • Submitting annual paperwork as required for registered societies

If you are interested to apply your administrative skills, or learning some new ones, please put your name forward. Experience is not necessary, as Scott will guide you and continue to be available for advice.

ANNUAL DUES:

Part of the VicPS $30 annual dues go to the BCPA for services like the newsletter and maintaining the BCPA website. It’s important for us all to pay our annual dues for 2024 by January 31st so that Scott may cut a cheque to the BCPA in advance of its AGM later in February.  Please renew your annual dues by January 31st at the latest by:

e-transfer to Scott MacPhail at scott_macphail@telus.net or by mailing a cheque to:

Treasurer
Victoria Palaeontology Society
1504 Shorncliffe Road
Victoria, BC Canada
V8P 2T4

VanPS meeting Dec 13: World Tour of “Dinosaur, The Greatest Show Unearthed”

The next VanPS meeting is on Wednesday, December 13 at 6:30 pm at the Burnaby Public Library at Metrotown.

Perry Poon will present, “The Dinosaur World Tour.  The Greatest Show Unearthed” (1993 and 1995).

The Dinosaur World Tour began in Edmonton, Alberta, and the exhibit was titled, “The Greatest Show Unearthed”.

Dinosaur, Greatest Show on Earth

The exhibits were the scientific results from excavations by a group of Canadian and Chinese paleontologists from the Canadian Museum of Nature (Ottawa, Ontario), Institute of Vertebrate and Paleoanthropology (Beijing, China), and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (Drumheller, Alberta) working in the field in the Gobi Desert, Northern China; Canadian Arctic, Baffin Island; and Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta.

The key researchers were Dr. Dale Russell (Curator of Fossil Vertebrates at the Canadian Museum of Nature), Professor Dong Zhiming (Institute of Vertebrate and Paleoanthropology), Professor Zhao Xijin, and Dr. Philip Currie (Head of Dinosaur Research, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleaontology).

This presentation shows some of the dinosaurs and discoveries from China, Alberta, and the High Arctic that were seen in the exhibit in Edmonton, Alberta (1993) and Vancouver (1995).

This presentation will be a physical meeting and a Zoom meeting. Zoom participation details will be forwarded to paid VicPS members before the meeting as soon as they become available.

Alberta Palaeontology Meeting speaker: Dr. Hallie Street will present “More than Monsters: Mesozoic marine reptiles”

BCPA member organizations’ members – including VicPS – have been invited to the Alberta Palaeontology meeting on Friday, November 17, 2023 at 7:30 pm MST (6:30 pm Pacific Standard Time) to hear Dr. Hallie Street present “More than Monsters: Mesozoic marine reptiles”.

Subject abstract and Zoom meeting details have been sent to all VicPS members. Please contact vicpalaeo@gmail.com in case you’ve lost that email or are about to join our ranks.

image courtesy linkedin

 

VicPS November Meeting: Tuesday, Nov 14th, 7:30 pm

The November VicPS meeting will be in person and virtual; Zoom participation details have been sent to VicPS members in an email.

For those joining in person, the meeting is:

The Community Room entrance is in the Uptown Shopping Centre parking garage (easy access) on Level 1 (Green).  If you’ve ever parked under WalMart and taken the escalator up, the room is to your right at the top of the escalator. If you’re facing the Walmart entrance (about to enter the store), turn left, and at the top of the escalator, turn left. The room is directly ahead.

VicPS president Jerri Wilkins writes: The meeting topic “will be a pictorial walk through of the RBCM’s current exhibits (Sue the T. Rex and Dinos of BC).  Both exhibits sparked a lot of questions for me about what we find (and don’t find) here on the island.  I’m very curious to hear what you see, as we do a virtual walk-though.”

“We will also have A SHOW AND TELL of specimens from the recent field trip to Boomerang Lake. Thank you, Andrew Fidell, for an enjoyable experience, and the bonus side-trip to Qualicum Beach to take in a public presentation on cephalopods by Graham Beard! That bit of serendipity was absolutely fabulous! I was too engaged to take many photos, but I will talk about it!”

“As usual, anyone in the BCPA family is welcome to join our meeting.”

BCPA family members not in VicPS: send an email to request the Zoom details.

VicPS field trip: Sunday, October 29th

When:7:30AM, Sunday, October 29th, 2023
Travel:Meet at Helmcken Park & Ride at 7:30AM 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 shallow water.

Please note: The initial PDF emailed to members may show an incorrect date for this field trip. It is in fact planned as per the subject line, Sunday, October 29th, 2023.

Fall 2023: Recent and Upcoming Activities

Paid VicPS members wll have received an email with the following information, and more detal about upcoming planned field trips.

Sept 10th Fieldtrip, Cowichan Head, Saanich

We had beautiful weather this past weekend putting our eyes to work for the RBCM to supplement the Cowichan Head Pleistocene collection with some new material that has eroded from the bluffs over the past season (see photos on the VicPS Facebook page). Dr. Richard Hebda gave us an overview (and for some, a refresher) of the relative ages of each strata, and where the marine became deltaic, etc. up through time. He pointed out the various ‘zones’ along the beach where macrofossils, plant material and marine fossils are likely to be collected, and reminded us that, in the macrofossil zone, look for bright white (bone) and black (tooth material). We did not find more fish (like the beautiful specimen posted to Nanaimo Group Fossils Facebook page last month, and in short order delivered to the RBCM), but we did find what Dr. Hebda identified as fish coprolite. Derek left with a heavier pack containing a handful of plant specimens, a feeding trace and a few tiny bone bits, and we all took away a wealth of information about the history of the bluffs and what current interpretations reveal about environmental change here on the Peninsula over that past 100,000+ years.  A big shout out to newest member, Logan, for scoring the BEST find of the day…a small piece of wood perfect for carbon-dating.  Logan, we’ll make sure you hear what the research on your discovery reveals!

October 15th Fieldtrip

This is the date for our next planned field trip. Details to follow once confirmed. Also, look for an announcement on a joint field trip of VicPS and VIPS to make up for one that was cancelled last year.

September 20th Meeting IN PERSON!

We begin our fall meetings with an IN-PERSON MEET & GREET and SHOW & TELL! We have not had a show and tell since COVID began in 2020, so please bring AS MUCH MATERIAL AS YOU CAN and let’s see what we can identify. Details of time and place to follow. Finding a room we can afford has been a challenge and your Council are checking out a few.  If anyone is aware of a room big enough for 15-20, Internet enabled, please advise.

We will also hold a VicPS Director’s meeting on September 20th, after which we will hold a Symposium wrap-up meeting (date pending) and report out on the Symposium outcomes, including financials.

October 21st, BCPA AGM

The BCPA will hold its AGM in October. We will share the insights we get into what’s happening across BC with you after the meeting.

Welcome back from summer, and please watch for further emails with details on the planned activities above.