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Category: Meetings

VanPS presentation: “Fossils from Harrison Lake”

On Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at 7 PM PST, Vancouver Paleontological Society chair Perry Poon will present, “Fossils from Harrison Lake.”

The West Side of Harrison Lake is a well known popular fossil collecting site for the VanPS. Numerous specimens of small ammonites (Cadoceras sp.), large belemnites, and clams (bivalves – Buchia sp.) have been found in these Jurassic and Cretaceous fossil localities. Over several years these fossil sites had drastic changes including road construction, mineral claim, clear cuts, and forest fires. Perry Poon has visited these fossil sites over several years and has documented the changing faces of the West Side of Harrison Lake fossil sites.

VicPS members may attend the presentation by Zoom. Zoom meeting details have been emailed to all paid members of VicPS.

This meeting is also the VanPS Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the VanPS members elect a person for the position of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Web Designer, and Director(s). Be prepared to wait until the AGM concludes before Perry’s presentation begins.

VIPS presents: January 15, 2023: Dr. Grant Zazula – Woolly Mammoths Remains from the Yukon & Extinct Arctic Mammals

Join us for a talk by Dr. Grant Zazula on January 15, 2023 at 2 PM PST to hear about his excavation of Woolly Mammoth remains along the Indian River and his work at the Beringia Interpretive Centre. We’ll learn what the DNA of extinct Arctic mammals can tell us about their lives and environment.

There is no need to register for this free VIPS Lecture.

Simply click on the Zoom link at www.fossiltalksandfieldtrips.com on the day of the talk to enter the lecture.

VicPS presentation Jan 11: Hydrothermal Vents: Life in the Absence of Sunlight

Please join the Victoria Palaeontology Society in welcoming our first speaker for 2023:

Moronke Harris, Graduate Student, Oceanography, University of Victoria

who will speak on the subject Hydrothermal Vents: Life in the Absence of Sunlight on Wednesday, January 11th, 2023 at 07:30 PM PST.

Moronke Harris studies life in the absence of light, over 1,000 m below the ocean’s surface. In particular, she studies microbial communities around hydrothermal vents and their eroding mineral deposits. Her research will inform discussions about the loss of biodiversity that may result from deep-sea mining at hydrothermal sites and the resource potential of microbial biopharmaceuticals. In addition to her academic pursuits, Moronke is a science-communication enthusiast and avid visual artist.

Ms. Harris joins us complements of the University of Victoria Speakers Bureau.

VicPS members will have received an email with instructions and links to join this January 11 Zoom presentation.

VicPS presentation: Marine Phytoplankton

A reminder of this week’s online presentation, “Marine Phytoplankton:  Diversity, Ecology and Ecosystem Services in Changing Oceans“, by Shea Wyatt, Graduate Student Department of Biology, University of Victoria.

Wednesday, Nov 9th, from 7:30 – 9:00 PM

To attend, VicPS members please check your email for connection details. Non-members, please contact vicpalaeo@gmail.com ASAP requesting access to this presentation.

Image courtesy of http://bios.edu/currents/canadian-students-at-bios-finish-successful-research-internships

VANPS presentation: “Mosasaurs, Great Sea Monsters of the Cretaceous”

Another online event to add to your calendar this week, “Mosasaurs, Great Sea Monsters of the Cretaceous”, will be presented by Brennan Martens, VANPS member, PaleoDude and palaeontologist-in=training.

Thursday, Nov 10th, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

To attend, VicPS members please check your email for connection details. Non-members, please contact vicpalaeo@gmail.com ASAP requesting access to this presentation.

Image courtesy https://www.deviantart.com/brennanthepaleodude/gallery/all

VicPS Speaker Wed Oct 12th: Storm Impacts in Coastal Environment

Many of our fieldtrip sites are on the margins of shallow seas.  Some are turbidite flows associated with landslides in offshore submarine slopes and canyons.  Might evidence of ancient storms also be captured in the strata? 

Studying the present can provide clues to the past.  On Wednesday evening please join VicPS as we welcome Dr. David Atkinson, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Vitoria, who will share with us how storms impact coasts. 

Drawing from his work in the Arctic, Dr. Atkinson will demonstrate how the nature of the coast – water depth, type of beach material, coast shape – affects storm impact, and how features like sandbars and rip-currents work.

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A of Dr. Atkinson’s work, and a discussion of what the fingerprints of ancient storms might look like in the strata we encounter on our fieldtrips. I will share photos from several of our recent field sites to supplement the post-presentation discussion.

Paid VicPS members will have received an email with the Zoom meeting connection details. Non-members may request attendance by emailing vicpalaeo@gmail.com well in advance of 7:30 pm October 12th 2022.

Also, Oct 12th is National Fossil Day USA, and to recognize the occasion you are encouraged to reach into your collections and bring forward your favourite find to share with the group. National Fossil Day was established in 2010 by the USA National Parks Service to promote the scientific and educational value of fossils.

The Weird & Wonderful: Lessons from the Cambrian with Joe Moysiuk

Joe Moysiuk is a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist at the Royal Ontario Museum & University of Toronto.

“Joe Moysiuk’s ongoing research of the many exciting fossils from the Burgess Shale has opened up and transformed our view of the Cambrian.” 

— Fossil Huntress

As part of the 2022 Vancouver Island Paelontological Society lecture series we are excited to invite you to this upcoming Zoom presentation.

This Sunday, September 25th 1:00 pm PST

You may find more info here http://fossiltalksandfieldtrips.com/index.html, and read backgrounder for Joe Moysiuk. Then link to the VIPS Zoom talk on the day of the presentation. Or simply use the VIPS meeting connection details below.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9965270007?pwd=WFl6OXB2cTJJU0QyN2NETWRnUzQrdz09&fbclid=IwAR235akSoloeHTuGgMGhevDy971FGb7Nn09sTZKOGzDqqyLs76-UHnsZPxw

Meeting ID: 996 527 0007

Passcode: 10Bb14

Next Vancouver Paleontological Society Meeting: May 18 (Wednesday) at 7 pm 

The next VanPS meeting is May 18 (Wednesday) at 7 pm, on Zoom, and you are invited to attend and participate.

Title: Talking Rocks: Paleontology Meets Sociology in the Anthropocene

Abstract: In this talk, Dr. Rebecca Yoshizawa will share perspectives as a sociological interloper entering the world of paleontology. From a gruelling trek to the Burgess Shale, to finding a fossil in her backyard, exploring paleontology’s thorny involvement in colonialism, and analyzing the promise of paleontology for saving the world, Dr. Yoshizawa reflects on the personal and the political when it comes to paleontology.

Bio: Dr. Rebecca Yoshizawa is an instructor in Sociology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She teaches the sociology of science, gender, health, technology, nonhumans, and families. Her research has concerned reproductive sciences and politics as well as developmental origins biology, with publications in Body & Society, Social Theory and Health, Feminist Theory, and the scientific journal Placenta. Her current research focuses on paleontology and its role in contentious conversations about deep time, place, and the Anthropocene. 

VicPS members, please look to your email inbox for a missive that includes the Zoom info.