Patricia Vickers-Rich facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patricia Vickers-Rich
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Patricia Vickers-Rich in the field, 2021
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| Born | July 11, 1944 |
| Known for | expert in the origin and evolution of Australasian vertebrates and their environments |
| Spouse(s) | Tom Rich |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of Australia |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Palaeontology and Palaeobiology |
Patricia Arlene Vickers-Rich (born 11 July 1944), also known as Patricia Rich, is an Australian professor who studies Palaeontology and Palaeobiology. She explores how Earth's environments have changed, especially in Australia and the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. Her research helps us understand how these changes affected the plants and animals that lived there.
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Early Life and Learning
Patricia Vickers-Rich grew up and went to school in the United States. When she was starting her career, she worked with animal bones from archaeological sites. She also helped with fossil research. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in paleontology from the University of Berkeley. Later, she got her Master of Arts and a PhD in geology from Columbia University in New York.
A Career in Science
Patricia Vickers-Rich has had an exciting career exploring ancient life. She worked as a field ecologist in Costa Rica, studying how living things interact with their environment. She also worked as a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
In 1976, she moved to Melbourne, Australia, to teach earth sciences at Monash University. Over many years, she became a very important person there. She was a professor of palaeontology and is now an emeritus professor, which means she's a retired professor who still keeps her title.
She also helped start the Monash Science Centre, which is now called PrimeSCI! at Swinburne University of Technology. She is still a director there. She also teaches palaeobiology at Swinburne University and palaeontology at Deakin University.
Besides her university roles, Patricia Vickers-Rich has worked with many other science groups. She was the president of the Australian Association of Palaeontologists. She also worked with museums like the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston and Museums Victoria. She even worked with a research lab in Moscow, Russia, studying very old organisms.
Patricia Vickers-Rich has helped create science exhibitions for the public. These shows displayed ancient plants and animals from Australia and Gondwana. Some places where her exhibitions were shown include the Science Centre Singapore and the ArtScience Museum.
Discovering Ancient Worlds
Patricia Vickers-Rich is a leading expert on how animals with backbones (vertebrates) have changed over the last 400 million years in Australia. She is especially interested in ancient Australian birds. She has led research teams all over the world, including in Africa, Southeast Asia, South Pacific Islands, Antarctica, Russia, South America, and Saudi Arabia. They look for clues about how land animals and birds developed.
Since the 1970s, she and her husband, Tom Rich, have worked hard to find new fossil sites in Victoria, Australia. They discovered and named two types of dinosaurs: Leaellynasaura and Timimus. They named these dinosaurs after their daughter, Leaellyn, and their son, Tim. Their work in Victoria helps scientists understand how the climate changed and how living things spread across Gondwana over 120 million years ago.
Books and Publications
Patricia Vickers-Rich has written many books and scientific papers about her discoveries. Here are some of her notable works:
- 1985 – Kadimakara: Extinct Vertebrates of Australia
- 1989 – The Fossil Book: A Record of Prehistoric Life (with others)
- 1993 – Wildlife of Gondwana: Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates from the Ancient Supercontinent (with Thomas Hewitt Rich)
- 2000 – Dinosaurs of Darkness (with Thomas Hewitt Rich)
- 2003 – Magnificent Mihirungs: The Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime (with Peter Murray)
- 2008 – The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia (with others)
- 2010 – The Artist and the Scientists: Bringing Prehistory to Life (with Thomas Hewitt Rich and Peter Trusler)
Awards and Recognition
Patricia Vickers-Rich has received many awards for her important work. In 2016, she was honored as an Officer of the Order of Australia. This award recognized her great service to Earth Sciences, especially in palaeontology, education, and international science.
Her books have also won many awards. She received the Victorian Premier's Award for Science Writing and the Queensland Premier's Award for Science Writing for her book The Rise of Animals. She also won the Eureka Prize for Wildlife of Gondwana and Dinosaurs of Darkness. Her books Wildlife of Gondwana and Magnificent Mihirungs won the Whitley Medal for being the best books on Australian animal natural history.
She has also received the Roy Wheeler Medallion for Excellence in Field Ornithology, a National Geographic/Toyota Field Vehicle Award, and the Chairman's Award from the National Geographic Society. In 1995, she even received the Key to the City of Mesa, Arizona, for her work on the Great Russian Dinosaurs Exhibition.
Because of her amazing contributions, Patricia Vickers-Rich has been chosen as a member of many important organizations. In 2015, she became a Bragg member of the Royal Institute of Australia. She also joined the Explorers Club in New York in 1998 and the International Academy of Sciences of Nature and Society Moscow Branch in 1996.
