Member of the Month - July 2021 Pachy-Pleuro-Whatnot-odon

[Kane]

Now marks the halfway point of the calendar year, and the sparks are certainly flying as hammers strike stones across many now summery parts of the world, generating many finds (if the number of FOTM entries this past month is any indication of increased activity). 

 

So if the first half of the year has been kind to our collectors, here's to hopefully an even better half to come. For now, the recipient of our MotM Crown will be: 

 

 

 

  Pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon  

 

Although joining us scarcely over a year ago, PPWO (if I may "acronymize" the screen name here ) has distinguished himself with kind and quality responses that have been information-rich reading for our membership. With the aid of parents who supported his early passions, we know his journey began earlier in life, and that it has only snowballed with respect to his own children. 

 

Congratulations!

Thank you for your contributions to our forum!

 

Care to share a few words with us about your journey to fossils and the Forum?

[Tidgy's Dad]

[fossilhunter21]

Congratulations!   

[RuMert]

Congrats! Alexander always provides LOTS of info on marine reptiles, working like a research institute on his own. Keep up the good work!

[JohnJ]

Congratulations, Alexander!  Your informative posts are always enjoyed and appreciated.

 

[digit]

Congrats!

 

(Fireworks, how appropriate.)

 

 

If you would, please favor us with some backstory on what led to your passion for fossils and how you came to find TFF.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Earendil]

Congrats, Alexander! You are never stingy with your extensive knowledge, even though your posts are easy to read with a funny anecdote thrown in here and there! Thank you!

[Top Trilo]

Congratulations, I wasn't surprised it was you but I was surprised you haven't already gotten MOTM. Congratulations, we even share the same name only I shorten it to Alex. Your posts are always informative and you truly deserve this. 

[Thomas.Dodson]

Congrats!

[Pagurus]

[Mainefossils]

Congratulations! I highly enjoy your helpful and informative posts. Thanks for your participation in this forum! 

[Misha]

Congrats!

[FossilDAWG]

Well deserved!    Congratulations!

Don

[grandpa]

Congratulations, Alexander.  I value your input to the forum.

[ThePhysicist]

Congratulations, richly deserved! 

[Praefectus]

Congratulations Alexander! Well deserved. Your posts are always informative and thought-provoking (and nicely formatted to include images within the text).  

 

[Ludwigia]

Congrats Alexander!

[connorp]

Congratulations!!

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Oh wow! Thanks for the kind words, everyone! It's such an honour to be made Member of the Month! And irrespective of my own contributions, I've learned so much more from all of you here on TFF! TFF is such a vibrant community, with such great and friendly members, such an excellent place to share your knowledge... So thanks to you all for making it the place it is - the place I enjoy spending my time, sharing my knowledge and learning new things

 

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, digit said:

If you would, please favor us with some backstory on what led to your passion for fossils and how you came to find TFF.

 

Growing up in a family of, and surrounded by, diplomats and antiquarians with a father who had, himself, wanted to become an archaeologist, I was exposed to ethnography, archaeology and antiques from an early age. However, it was only when I discovered dinosaurs that my interest in palaeontology really set off. Helped along by a class mate who had a great collection of Omani fossils; family members in the UK who gifted me fossils whenever we came by on our yearly trips; visits to dinosaur exhibits wherever we encountered them (my father wasn't one to lie on the beach the whole day during summer holidays, so we'd often leave my mother and sister behind to visit archaeological sites and palaeontological museums the two of us); and, later, participation in excursions organised by a Dutch geological society, my interest in and collection of fossils rapidly grew. There are plenty of stories and anecdotes from this time, which will undoubtedly come to light sooner or later - including one in which I ended up, at age 11, recounting the then current theories on the extinction of the dinosaurs to my fellow tour members while on a guide walk through an old marl mine in the southern Netherlands, and one in which I ended up preferring to be gifted a ceramic reproduction of a Pterodactylus over the authentic skull of a Psittacosaurus for my birthday (this was all still in the time before Jurassic Park, so I guess fossils must've still been a lot more affordable back then)

 

The Netherlands, however, is not a great country to pursue a career in palaeontology in. Thus, following many cautionary advices from friends and family alike, I gradually lost track of palaeontology in favour of IT. This put me on an entirely different path, though, which ended up with me studying archaeology. All the same, as there's not too much need for Latin American archaeologists in the Netherlands either, having completed my studies I returned to IT as a computer programmer. Seeing as it's very tricky to do anything archaeological without being associated with an academic institution, however, I quickly rediscovered my old love for palaeontology. Moreover, I soon found out that what interests me most within palaeontology are marine reptiles, quite possibly triggered by early trips to Lyme Regis in my childhood (I still hope to find my own ichthyosaur skull one day); the fact that as a Dutchman I can't help but love mosasaurs and nothosaurs (which occur in the only two Mesozoic deposits that are accessible in the country); and that most of the Jurassic sediments in Europe, including around where I currently live, are marine. The final stage was finding my way onto here, a step I finally took after a friend recommended it to me. And, so, here I am! 

 

Since I joined TFF, I've found it a great place to satisfy my inherent need for academic discourse and analysis - which just keeps bringing me back

Edited July 3, 2021 by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

[digit]

Splendid backstory!

 

Similar points to many "origin stories" we've read about here but with some interesting and unique twists in the journey that brought you to fossils and finding TFF.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[ziggycardon]

Congratulations, a very well earned title!  

[Troodon]

Congratulations well deserved 

[fossilsonwheels]

Congratulations !!!

[Paleorunner]

congratulations on the title.

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Congrats Alexandre !

 

Coco

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Coco