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Category: Events

Cancelled: RBCM hosts Victoria Geodiversity Fest, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

Due to the BCGEU strike, the Oct. 4th GeoDiversity Day event at the RBCM has been cancelled.

Victoria Geodiversity Fest will be hosted by the Royal BC Museum to mark UNESCO International Geodiversity Day.  VicPS will participate again this year, sharing a portion of our Society fossil collection (aka ‘Education Kit’) with the public to promote the wonderful heritage below our feet here in BC. Volunteer to help staff the event or come see the public education face of VicPS.  Save the date. Details will be shared closer to the event.

Image courtesy RBCM.

33rd annual Canadian Paleontology Conference – virtual!

Save your travel budget, and attend CPC 2025.

The 33rd Annual Canadian Paleontology Conference (CPC 2025) will be held virtually on November 21–22, 2025.

This free, two-day online event will feature a program of both talks and posters highlighting the latest paleontological research from across Canada and beyond. Whether you’re an early career researcher, seasoned professional, or passionate enthusiast, CPC 2025 is a fantastic opportunity to share your work, connect with colleagues, and celebrate paleontology in all its forms!

Presented by the Geological Association of Canada.

APS presentation: Friday, Sept. 19, 6:30 PST

On Friday, September 19th, at 7:30PM (Mountain Standard Time) or 6:30 PM PST, the Alberta Palaeontology Society has invited us to their presentation by Dr. Jessica Theodor entitled:  ‘New Species found at the John Day Fossil Beds’.    

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in eastern Oregon preserves an amazing and colourful sequence of interbedded volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, with dramatic stratigraphy including flood basalts. The fossils preserved there range from the middle Eocene rainforest faunas and floras of the Clarno Formation Nut Beds (44 Ma) and the Hancock Mammal Quarry (40 Ma), the Bridge Creek Flora (33 Ma) and the Turtle Cove Unit of the John Day Formation (29 Ma), the Mascall Assemblage (15 Ma) and the Rattlesnake Assemblage (7 Ma).

Recent work in the Turtle Cove Unit has yielded remains of two enigmatic insectivorous mammals, Cryptoryctes and Micropternodus.

https://albertapaleo.org/events

ZOOM LINK:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84197949921?pwd=IGD8LCDlri68xD6dWqr0TbK30BDXlV.1

Meeting ID: 841 9794 9921
Passcode: 507378
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https://us06web.zoom.us/meetings/84197949921/invitations?signature=qSAOdvLhUEsOjltJCZ4_jZHupYdSsq5D9OE9YP9vBSA

Symposium 2025 Reminder – Registration & Accommodations

The 2025 BC Paleontological Symposium is next month, August 22nd – 25th, and there is still time to register if you haven’t already.  The schedule is posted here:  15th BC Paleontological Symposium 2025 v2 – Vancouver Island Paleontological Society  (scroll down the page).

For those considering the Hornby Island Fieldtrip, overnight accommodation is being organized at a campground adjacent to the fossil site. Cost is $50 per person.  If you are interested, please contact Jerri Wilkins and she’ll put you in touch with the accommodation organizer.

If you haven’t been to a symposium before, it will blow your mind!  Great science, great conversations, and great displays. 

See you there!

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.

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.

APS meeting April 11: Mammoth Site Visit, and, “What Really Killed the Dinosaurs?”

The Alberta Palaeontological Society’s upcoming monthly meeting will take place on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 6:30 p.m PST at Mount Royal University, room B108. The meeting will be held in person and online through Zoom (info included below). There is both a short and a long presentation organized for April; please see abstracts and bios below.

Short Presentation by Dr. Leslie Eliuk

Title: Visit to Mammoth Site at Hot Springs, South Dakota

A sneak peak and prelude to the presentation by expert Dr. Chris Jass, rescheduled for November 2025.

Eliuk 2025 April Short Presentation – The Mammoth SiteDownload

Main Presentation by Dr. François Therrien

Title: What really killed the dinosaurs? A look at the latest developments

April 2025 Dr Therrien Presentation Abstract and BioDownload

Zoom Meeting Information:

Alberta Palaeontological Society is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: APS April Meeting
Time: Apr 11, 2025 07:30 PM Edmonton
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88073894464?pwd=LPU3vkLSSOzZQxC0AcOCo0qDyX23fh.1

Meeting ID: 880 7389 4464
Passcode: 252138

Local April 2025 VicPS Events

With no speaker scheduled for the April 9th meeting, our President will report out on recent activities – we did just host a Fossil Fair! – and catch us all up, as well as introduce new members to our Society. 

The meeting link will be sent via separate email to paid members. 

We are in the final stages of determining which workshop will take place on April 12th, and details of the April 20th fieldtrip will be circulated a week in advance. Look to your email for further details.