Category: Outreach

September 5, 2023

Fossils & Palaeoenvironments

This November – on Saturday 11th and 18th – I am teaching a two-part online course for the University of York Centre for Lifelong Learning. Fossils & Palaeoenvironments will explain what fossils are, how we’ve worked this out, and how we use fossils to understand ancient environments. Saturday 11th November will be the Fossils day, introducing fossils, palaeontological techniques, and...

Categories Outreach/Teaching

August 4, 2023

Rebel show nails!

Banish the grey fear with a prehistoric pedicure! This summer, at Kirkleatham Museum, the Lemon Tops & Lobster Pots exhibition is celebrating the Redcar & Cleveland seaside. I’ve curated the geology display, and I’ve made Gryphaea arcuata – the devil’s toenail – star of the show. The fossils are always grey, though, so on Wednesday August 9th and 23rd I’m...

Categories Outreach

July 7, 2023

Mary Anning Rocks Yorkshire’s Jurassic World!

She never visited the county during her lifetime but finally, on #FossilFriday July 14th 2023, Mary Anning will arrive in Yorkshire, as the maquette of her wonderful Lyme Regis statue comes to the Yorkshire Museum for a two-month stay. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that Mary is coming to York. She’d have loved fossiling on the Yorkshire...

Categories Outreach

June 17, 2023

Yorkshire Fossil Festival 2023

What did you miss? Don’t panic! There’s plenty more to come! If you missed – or perhaps you’re just missing – the 2023 Yorkshire Fossil Festival in Whitby, what can you do to bring the fossil-feelgood-factor back before our next festival? Here are some ideas: Come back to Whitby Museum! Celebrating its bicentenary this year, the wonderful Whitby Museum is...

Categories Outreach

May 12, 2023

What is the Yorkshire Fossil Festival?

What is the Yorkshire Fossil Festival? Only northern England’s biggest annual celebration of fossils, friends, and fun!

Categories Outreach

March 5, 2023

Redcar Rocks, responsibly

Last month, I led a #FossilFriday event at Redcar Palace, taking people out onto the beach to hunt for fossils in the shingle, and bringing the specimens back to the Palace to discuss, describe, and draw. It was a fantastic day, and we’re going to do it again soon. I am now telling anyone who’ll listen that Redcar is a...

Categories Outreach

February 13, 2023

New paper for 2023!

Together with my excellent friend and colleague Dr Bryony Caswell, I have written a paper in a new Special Publication of the Geological Society (volume 529) on the Conservation Palaeobiology of Marine Ecosystems. We looked at the types of fossil burrows and bivalves preserved in the early Jurassic rocks of North Yorkshire, especially at Runswick Bay and Kettleness; East Cliff...

Categories Outreach/Research

February 9, 2023

Fossiliam’s upcoming events – 2023

If you’re looking for a fossil-, rock- or natural history-related activity in Yorkshire in 2023, I might be able to help, as I run fossil-, rock- and natural history-related activities in Yorkshire. My current calendar of events is as follows: Sunday, April 9th – Runswick BayI’ll be leading a Natural Wonders fossil hunt at Runswick Bay from 11.30am to 1.30pm...

Categories Outreach/Teaching

January 14, 2023

Embrace the grey fear

Wild winter walks on the north-east coast of England? Absolutely! I parked at the western end of Redcar beach. Majuba, it was windy! Coatham’s sand dunes were frantically migrating south. The offshore wind turbines looked certain to take off. Those small-dog-walkers who’d foolishly unleashed their hounds watched them saltate off to Saltburn. The sun was shining, though, and perhaps all...

Categories #StratumYoung/Outreach/Teaching

January 1, 2023

My ’22 Top Ten – 11. Crocodile Rock

“Is it a skull?” we asked, disbelievingly. “A crocodile, perhaps?”

Categories Outreach/Research