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Category: Meetings

12th BC Paleo Symposium, Aug 17-20, Courtenay, BC

The 12th British Columbia Paleontological Symposium will be held at the Florence Filberg Centre, in Courtenay, BC, on August 18th and 19th , 2018. The British Columbia Paleontological Alliance meets every two years to hold symposia, to bring together many branches of paleontology: vertebrate, invertebrate, paleobotany, micropaleontology, paleoecology and paleoclimatology.

Registration, welcome reception, posters and art show will be held Aug 17th at the Courtenay and District Museum and Paleontological Centre, 207- 4th Street.

Please read the announcement here.

Marji Johns at Victoria Natural History Society – Jan 9

VicPS member Marji Johns, Paleontology Collections Manager and Researcher at the RBCM, is presenting Jan 9 to the Victoria Natural History Society at 7:30 pm, Room 159,  Fraser Building, University of Victoria.

From the VNHS calendar:

Natural History Night: From Cliff to Cabinet

January 9, 2018 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Fraser Building, University of Victoria

From Cliff to Cabinet:Securing 18,000—52 Million Year Old Fossil Matrices for Research, Exhibition,and Learning

 The McAbee Fossil Beds Heritage Site near Cache Creek, B.C. contains exceptional fossilsvital for scientific research, education and viewing. The significance of thesite was initially recognized by researchers, and later, Dave Langevin and JohnLeahy managed the site under mineral tenure, making important fossilcollections before its Heritage Site designation in July 2012. This fall(2017), the Leahy family donated the fossils collected by John to the RoyalB.C. Museum. Today, Marji Johns introduces you to the fossil site, some of the fossils and theirsignificance, and initial plans for this new collection at the Museum. Marjireceived her M.Sc. from the University of Victoria and has worked for 39 yearsin paleontology and geoscience. She is currently Paleontology CollectionsManager and Researcher at the Royal BC Museum. Kjerstin Mackie, TextileConservator, Royal BC Museum, and Elisabeth Deom, Senior Stewardship Officer,Heritage Branch, B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural ResourceOperations contributed to this presentation. We meet at 7:30 in Room 159,Fraser Building, University of Victoria. Everyone is welcome. Note: UVic parking is $3.

VicPS Meeting Sep 20 7:30 pm

Sep 20, 7:30 pm, Room A120, Cornett Building, UVic.

Welcome back from the summer to all member and guests. There will be no speaker at this meeting, so plenty of time to talk up and show off your summer collecting finds.

VicPS Annual Memberships expired on Dec. 31, 2016. New and renewal membership fees (Regular $30, Patron $100) should be brought to the general meeting or mailed to Scott MacPhail at 1504 Shorncliffe Road, Victoria, BC, V8P 2T4.

Tom Cockburn will bring used Geological Survey of Canada pogo sticks, a field instrument used to measure stratigraphy, that were offered earlier. These sticks are not in perfect condition and some repairs may be necessary.

A field trip is planned for Sep 23 2017.

June 2017 field trip – no monthly meeting

The lack of a speaker forces the cancellation of this month’s meeting that had been planned for this week. Apologies.

There will be a field trip this month. Please see details in the email sent to all society members by Tom Cockburn.

Date: Sunday, June 25

Meeting Location and Time:  Helmcken Road Park and Ride, 08:00 AM to sign-in and arrange car-pooling. Please do offer your driver gas money. If you have not yet filled in a BCPA waiver this year you will need to do so before joining the field trip.

Safety and Equipment: 

  • Safety: We will be visiting an intertidal site, so you should expect to be walking on rocks that can be slippery and treacherous. Expect to be around water.
  • Equipment: Fossils may be found in exposed rock and in concretions, so a good hammer or sledge, chisel, and protective eyewear are required.

The weather forecasts call for sun, but this is the west coast so you should prepare for anything from blazing sun to torrential downpours.

May 2017 Field Trip – no monthly meeting

There will be a field trip this month. Please see details in the email sent to all society members by Tom Cockburn.

Unfortunately, there will be no monthly meeting on May 17 due to lack of a speaker.

Date:  Saturday, May 27th (note that this is NOT the Saturday following the Monthly Meeting)

Meeting Location and Time:  Helmcken Road Park and Ride; 07:00 AM)  Arrange car-pooling.

Safety and Equipment: 

  • Safety: We will be visiting an intertidal site, so you should expect to be walking on rocks that can be slippery and treacherous.
  • Equipment: At some sites the fossils are only found in concretions, so a good hammer or sledge and protective eyewear are required. At other sites the fossils are found in the rock, so a small chisel is helpful.

VicPS Meeting April 19 7:30 pm

April 19, 2017 7:30 pm, Room A120, Cornett Building, UVic.

Speaker: Gary Kaiser, RBCM research Associate and VicPS member.

Topic: Why dinosaurs got small:  how biology of the dinosaur-bird lineage made them such a huge success for several hundred million years.  For all of that time, both dinosaurs and birds have depended on a hard shelled egg for reproduction.  The shell imposes a strict budget on the development of the hatchling and has led to important changes in the skeleton and behaviour of modern birds.