A Paleontologist You Admire Most

[Uncle Siphuncle]

yes sr. garcia remains vety accessible and willing to help with ID of cenozoic vert finds... he's a wonderful resource.

met chuck bonner last fall too. great guy, great collection.

[Fossildude19]

Here's my list -

(I should add that many mentioned previously I would have mentioned as well. )

Concerning Trilobites:

Harry Whittington

Richard Fortey

Concerning General Paleontology:

Georges Cuvier

Benjamin Silliman

James Hall

Concerning the Newark Supergroup:

Richard Swann Lull , Bruce Cornet, Nicholas G. Macdonald, Amy R. Mccune, Paul Olsen, Bobb Schaeffer, John S. Newberry, W. M. Davis,

S. Ward Loper, C. R. Eastman, and W. C. Redfield & J. H. Redfield - Namesakes of Redfieldius gracilis.

I also admire the many contributors, professional and amateur, who contribute to this forum.

Regards,

[Uncle Siphuncle]

also mark mckinzie has put together some great references on texas pennsylvanian exposures as well as on the north sulphur river. then there's chuck finsley with his field guide to texas fossils. these guys have put together some of most useful handbooks for today's crop of texas collectors.

[Paleoworld-101]

Paleoworld, Tim Flannery is a great choice - I sometimes don't think of him, because I'm more familiar with his work on modern mammals, but youare right.

Yes, he certainly is outstanding in a number of fields not just Paleontology. From memory he is a Paleontologist, Mammologist, Climatologist and Environmentalist. Now thats a handful

When i start my Paleobiology University major next year, he will be one of my lecturers!

Edited January 11, 2013 by Paleoworld-101

[matt cable]

I love Wilcott's work as well.

The other paleontologist that comes to mind is Winifred Goldring. Her amazing New York State Museum Memoir 16 (available for free download here http://nysl.nysed.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=nThnRHlw0h/NYSL/224340010/523/89769) is my best resource looking for "Devonian Crinoids of New York State".

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/womenshistory/goldring.html

[FossilDAWG]

I'd like to put in a word for my old friend Tom Bolton, long time paleontologist with the Geological Survey of Canada. Tom did the definitive mapping of the Ontario Silurian, and the Ordovician and Silurian of Anticosti Island, and was one of the last jack-of-all-trades, publishing on Ordovician and Silurian corals, cephalopods, brachiopods, echinoderms, eurypterids, bryozoans, stromatoporoids,and other taxa. He was incredibly enthusiastic about amateur paleontologists, and exceptionally jovial and happy every single time I saw him. I never had to call ahead, I could just drop by and he'd have a pot of coffee on and plenty of time to help me understand my newest "treasure", which often led to a visit to the collections to pull out other examples and stories of collecting on Anticosti and in the Canadian Arctic. Often we'd be joined by his friend and fellow paleontologist Murray Copeland, who got me excited about ostracods. Unfortunately we lost Tom several years ago. It was only when I read his obituary that I learned that he had been seriously wounded in the D-day landing, and developed his interest in geology and fossils while recuperating in Southern Ontario.

Miss you Tom.

Don

[JimB88]

I admire John Maisey and Steve Holland both of whom are helpful. Steve Holland in particular is fun to correspond with as his passion for the subject shows in his emails. He also has the website http://strata.uga.ed...auna/fauna.html which is very useful for everyone in this area.

I want to add Micheal Coates to this list as he has been very helpfull id'ing these strange Mississippian bradyodont teeth!

[stonesnbones]

There are some really great names on this list. My personal favorite is Mark Hallet. He lost an arm and part of his leg as a child. He makes a living as a paleo-artist, and he is best know for his work on the movie Jurassic Park. I watched him carve a oviraptor skull from a lump of clay using his one good arm and the nub of his missing one. He loves sharing his knowledge of paleontology with anyone, especially children. He is one of those extremely upbeat individuals who truly has taken "lemons and make lemonade."

Edited February 12, 2013 by stonesnbones

[RichW9090]

Mark Hallet is indeed an inspiring guy - and very unassuming.

Rich

[doushantuo]

Y Yakovlev

(brachiopods,Rugosa,stood up to Stalin)

Richard Reyment

(the giant, as simple as that)

Erik Stensio

Erik Jarvik

Richard Fortey

Anita Lofgren

Kate Trinajstic

Ivo Chlupac

Gavin Young

Jennifer Clack

Graham Budd

Hans Pflug

(Ediacaran genius, with a corpus of work that is both as impressive as it is unavailable)

Bedrich Boucek

(graptolites,ostracods: "the paleozoic"

Jaroslav Stolarski

Isles Strachan 

Gunnar Save Soderbergh

Gerhard Becker

(ostracod giant)

Richard Bromley

(the ichnology giant)

James Valentine

Lukas Hottinger

Adolf Eisenack

(the microfossil generalist,with the most paywalled and unaccesible body of work,maybe?)

F.von Huene

(needs no further comment/vertebrates)

Alwyn Williams

Gusti Burmann

(Darn,she was a good palynologist,and in some difficult times,too and,like Eisenack,with a totally unavailable body of work,with one exception )

G.K Alberti

Wolfgang Blind

a tiny body of work,but oh boy,the relevance of it)

O.M.B.Bulman

(graptolite genius)

Otto Quenstedt

Denise sigogneau-Russell

Wighart von Koenigswald

Gerhard Storch

Hans Kerp

Klemens Oekentorp

(Paleozoic corals,so good,and so unavailable) 

William Sargeant

Jens Rust

Gunnar Lindstom

(the Swedish generalist )

 

Gustav Holm

(they don't make them like that anymore,incomparable)

Winfred Remy

(paleozoic flora,a genius in my book,literature availability(zero point nought)

Walter Gross

(the ichthyologst/Like Burman: unavailable,with one or two exceptions)

Joachim Reitner

Hans Dieter Mai

(paleobotanist extraordinaire,paywalled from here to Saturn's  rings)

Heinz Tobien

(theriologist extraordinaire)

Gerhard Solle

Dave Jablonski

Henri and Genevieve Termier

Daniel Vachard

(alltime giant with regards to paleozoic microproblematica and foraminifera)

Karl Gripp

(both GOAT and JOAT)

Georg Statz

(the tragic insect man,self-educated,basically)

Dietmar Andres

(graptolites,conodonts, )

Gerhard Hahn

(a slightly unlikely combination: mesozoic mammals,trilobites)

Elsa Warburg

Trilobites,whose life ended so tragically

J Kiaer

(generalist,agnatha,the Paleozoic of Fennoscandia)

 

 

Opik(Oepik)

(ostracoda,brachiopoda,the Paleozoic)

 

Annalise Ferreti

(The paleozoic)

 

now some very dishonorable mention of sorts

very few ichthyologist quote from the work of Thomasset(although he wrote the book on fish teeth)

Why: his support of (let's be very euphemistic) right wing German politics in the 1930's

Which would be bad if was German......but he was French 

Johannes Weigelt

the taphonomist extraordinaire and a 1930's supporter of a very questionable regime 

 

Weyland: great paleobotanist,again: questionable political convictions(for which he did time,Post WW II,I believe)

 

David Bruton

(The Paleozoic)

Peter rudist,sorry ,Skelton

George "echinoderm" Ubaghs

Tilly Edinger

for reasons to numerous to mention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit:

what do all have in common

Painstaking attention to detail,clarity of thought

All of them have left works which can stand the test of time

and yes.I am aware of the criticism against Jarvik

 

 

 

Edited May 26 by doushantuo

[Kane]

Rolf Ludvigsen -- my top choice.

 

[Walt]

Richard Fortey

 

[doushantuo]

with you on that,as you can see 

[Walt]

13 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

with you on that,as you can see 

Fascinating fellow.  I could watch his talks/lectures all day

[Bobby Rico]

Mary Anning her legacy lives on , a collecting force of nature in the history of paleontology. 

Edited May 26 by Bobby Rico

[doushantuo]

agreed

[Doctor Mud]

Looks like this thread has burst back into life. 

How about some New Zealand ones?

 

Ewan Fordyce.

He specializes in cetaceans but has had a major influence in paleontology in so many other areas, including penguin evolution. 
He was also a mentor to me as a budding paleontologist. When I was in my early teens he took time to identify fossils I took in. I learnt a lot from him

 

Alan Beau

 

Unfortunately Alan just passed away. His work on New Zealand molluscs is amazing. Not a week goes by that I don’t use his work to identify a mollusc

 

Daphne Lee

 

Recently known for her work on Foulden Maar, Miocene lake deposits. Her work (with others) has yielded a wealth of information on NZ paleoecology. I love her approach to build up a complete picture of an ecosystem using many fossils from a site 

[doushantuo]

I know the work of both Fordyce and Beu,and I agree totally with you

Don't forget he australasian bryozoologists btw(Gordon comes to mind)

Daphne L. i admire for her brachiopod work  

Bedford:Archaeocyatha

Waterhouse ::Permian brachiopods

Jones:paleozoic ostracods

Barrie Rickards: graptolites

all people who have done groundbreaking work

John Long ,Gavin Young,Kate Trinajstic: need is say more?great ichthiologists,all of them

 

Edited May 27 by doushantuo

[Missourian]

J. Harlan Johnson

 

Referred as the father of paleoalgology (fossil algae)

 

https://rock.geosociety.org/net/documents/gsa/memorials/v06/Johnson-JH.pdf

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-70355-3_1

 

His name often came up in my research in Pennsylvanian calcareous algae.

[fossilsonwheels]

Henri Cappetta. As a collector of deep water chondrichthyes, his work is essential reading. 
 

I’d also mention Kensu Shimada, Sylvain Adnet, Shawn Hamm, Charlie Underwood 

 

I think our own @Boesse is deserving of recognition as a Paleontologist to admire. Not only is his work really important but he is always willing to contribute here in a variety of ways. 

[Ludwigia]

I would like to mention Dr. Guenter Schweigert here since he deserves it. He is curator of the Jurassic and Cretaceous invertebrate collection and contact person for Micropaleontology at the Natural History Museum in Stuttgart and is, so to speak, the face of the museum when it comes to meeting the public, as was the case yesterday when I ran into him at their stand at the yearly Fossil Exchange in southern Germany. He's been churning out an average of at least 20 scientific papers a year on various subjects, either as author or co-author, for decades and also manages to find the time to edit the German "Fossilien Journal" for amateur paleontologists, where he is also a regular contributor. He is the first address for German amateurs, particularly in southern Germany and he, like our Boesse, always has an open ear for us and is always willing to help out with his expertise, as he also does regularly as a participant in the German fossil internet platform "Steinkern". His special interests are ammonites and decapoda and he is the leader of various scientific digs in the Plattenkalk and Posidonienschiefer, having thereby discovered and named countless new species, not to mention the many new species which have been discovered by amateurs who came to him with questions about their special finds. I never cease to be amazed at his great productivity and I and many amateurs are thankful to him for his ongoing relationship with us.

[Boesse]

On 5/27/2023 at 7:24 AM, Doctor Mud said:

Looks like this thread has burst back into life. 

How about some New Zealand ones?

 

Ewan Fordyce.

He specializes in cetaceans but has had a major influence in paleontology in so many other areas, including penguin evolution. 
He was also a mentor to me as a budding paleontologist. When I was in my early teens he took time to identify fossils I took in. I learnt a lot from him

 

Alan Beau

 

Unfortunately Alan just passed away. His work on New Zealand molluscs is amazing. Not a week goes by that I don’t use his work to identify a mollusc

 

Daphne Lee

 

Recently known for her work on Foulden Maar, Miocene lake deposits. Her work (with others) has yielded a wealth of information on NZ paleoecology. I love her approach to build up a complete picture of an ecosystem using many fossils from a site 

 

Excellent choices - you've included two out of my three PhD committee members! I miss both of them dearly.

 

13 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

Henri Cappetta. As a collector of deep water chondrichthyes, his work is essential reading. 
 

I’d also mention Kensu Shimada, Sylvain Adnet, Shawn Hamm, Charlie Underwood 

 

I think our own @Boesse is deserving of recognition as a Paleontologist to admire. Not only is his work really important but he is always willing to contribute here in a variety of ways. 

 

Many thanks but I am much too young to include on a list like this!

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

53 minutes ago, Boesse said:

Many thanks but I am much too young to include on a list like this!

Not so fast.   I honestly think this next/new generation of Palentologists is continuing that needed and open dialog with amateurs. You are educating the public at large through social  media, something we desperately need at this time. That connection with science and scientists, (so they don't feel like they are decending down from an ivory tower), I feel is going to be critical to build trust and fight for a better future for everyone. No matter what the area of study. For that I am most appreciative. 

 

9 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

not to mention the many new species which have been discovered by amateurs who came to him with questions about their special finds. I never cease to be amazed at his great productivity and I and many amateurs are thankful to him for his ongoing relationship with us.

 So very cool that he is willing to offer his knowledge and experience.

Edited May 28 by Brett Breakin' Rocks