Betty Kellett Nadeau facts for kids

Betty Kellett Nadeau (born in 1906) was an American scientist who studied ancient life. She was a paleontologist, which means she studied fossils. She was also a micropaleontologist, focusing on very tiny fossils. Betty spent her career studying ancient, tiny sea creatures called ostracods from the Paleozoic Era. Her important work led to the discovery of many new marine species. In fact, a group of creatures called Bekena was named after her!

Betty's Early Life and Education

Betty Kellett Nadeau was born as Elizabeth R. Kellett in 1906 in Kansas. Her parents were Elsie Jane and E. V. Kellett. For some of her childhood, she lived in Miami, Oklahoma.

Later, Betty moved to Lawrence, Kansas. She attended the University of Kansas and studied with a famous state geologist named Raymond Cecil Moore. She graduated in 1927. After that, she continued her studies in Massachusetts. There, she worked in the lab of another paleontologist, Joseph Augustine Cushman.

Betty's Career as a Scientist

Betty started her career in 1929. She worked for the Amerada Petroleum Corporation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Later, she moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she worked for a company called Stone & Webster.

In 1934, while in Lake Charles, she married Edward Hollis Nadeau. In 1947, Betty began teaching at Washington University in St. Louis. She worked closely with another scientist, Dorothy Jung Echols. They became lifelong friends and worked together on many research projects. By 1958, Betty left St. Louis to join her husband, E. H. Nadeau. His work took them to Naples, Italy, and then to Venezuela.

Her Important Research Work

Betty Nadeau's research focused on tiny creatures called ostracods. She studied different types of these fossils. Some were "primary types," meaning they were the first examples found. Others were "topotypes," which are examples found in the same place as the original discovery. She collected these tiny fossils from both above and below the ground.

Betty noticed that ostracods had many variations. This meant that even within the same species, individuals could look different. Her research on Kansas ostracods showed that these differences were often caused by small changes or mutations in individual creatures. She also found that the sex and age of the ostracods played a role in these variations. Betty spent eight years studying ostracods from the Carboniferous period. She carefully examined all the different ways these ancient creatures varied.

Betty's Lasting Legacy

Betty Kellett Nadeau's contributions to science are remembered today. Several species of ostracods have been named in her honor:

• Paraparchites kellettae
• Hollinella kellettae
• Remaneica kellettae
• Pseudobythocypris kellettae
• Polytylites kellettae

Also, a whole group of ostracods, known as the genus Bekena, is named after her. This shows how important her work was in understanding these tiny ancient creatures.