Rick Hudson - travel writer and author

This article appeared in the BC Rockhounder Magazine.

Report on the 3rd BC Paleontological Symposium
University of Victoria, May 14-17, 1999.
Rick Hudson

Organized by the BC Peleontological Alliance, the University of Victoria, and the Victoria Palaeontology Society, this has become a bi-annual event, with the first meeting held at Courtenay in 1995, then 1997 at UBC, and the latest is back on the Island in Victoria. Over a hundred attendees heard Dr Jim Haggert, Chair of the BC Paleo Alliance, welcome everyone and Tom Cockburn, Chair of the Victoria Society introduce the keynote speaker, Dr Kirk Johnson. Kirk is the Curator of Paleobotany at the Denver Museum of Natural History, and as this writer had recently had the opportunity to visit that museum, it was with interest that we settled back to hear what he had to say.

Kirk was a dynamic speaker, as you would expect from a man who has been the anchor of so many TV shows. He started collecting fossils at the tender age of 5 in the Seattle area, and joined a rock club shortly thereafter. He strongly endorsed the importance of these lapidary societies and the role they play in introducing people to the wonderful world of mineral and fossils. He went on to say that there are, today, two distinct areas where the "citizen scientist" can still make a major contribution to our knowledge base -- in paleontology, and astronomy.

Kirks' particular background is paleobotany, so it's hardly surprising that he is really much more interested in the shrubbery surrounding a dinosaur diorama, than in the massive bones themselves! He raised a laugh when he pointed out that, since grass had not yet evolved in the Cretaceous Age, artists have usually solved the problem of how to portray dinosaurs, by placing them on "a gravel parking lot, with a bunch of monkey-puzzle trees behind"!

Marine fossils

In fact, recent research at the Denver Museum has defined a fairly exact account of what we would have seen in those far-off days, whether it was dry hilltop, temperate forest or damp marshland. The plants his group have identified, and the artwork created to show them, suggest a fascinating blend of flora that would not appear out of place today!
As in all sciences, one of the Last Great Problems (LGPs) confronting paleontologists (until the next LGP appears) is the question of the origin of the West Coast margin and, more particularly, where did Vancouver Island come from? Did it form near where Baja California is today? Certainly, the hot climate flora in the paleobotanical records suggest that as a possibility. He is planning to compare the taxonomy of Mexico circa 74 Mya with that of the Nanaimo flora of the same time. Who knows?
A range of other speakers presented excellent papers over the remaining day and a half -- some very specific, some general in topic. Mike Trask of Courtenay, discoverer of the first elasmosaur (over 15m long) in 1988, gave a fascinating account of how the entire neighbourhood had become involved in the first great excavation. Mike had placed a small advertisement in the local paper, asking for volunteers, and had been overwhelmed when 50 people had shown up on the first day of the field work! Over the ensuing seasons, they excavated a variety of fascinating vertibrates, and have worked hard to keep the finds in their own community. Indeed, at the symposium, Mike announced that the Town of Courtenay had, that day, completed the transfer of the town's old post office building to the museum, to be used as new exhibit and research space. Citizen science indeed. And last year over 40,000 visitors had stopped at the Courtenay Museum.
On the Sunday afternoon, attendees had the option of choosing from a variety of field trips, which allowed everyone to do what they liked best (get dirty), and see one of four different areas on the southern end of Vancouver Island. This writer chose the Cranberry Arms paleo trip, so named because of its proximity to that excellent centre of refreshment, the Cranberry Arms Pub. What better way to spend a day digging?
In summary, the Third Symposium was a great success at many levels -- a meeting place where like minds could swap ideas and science, where some excellent papers were presented, and where everyone had a chance to see some of the truly world-class local paleontology. See you in 2001.