Winifred Goldring facts for kids

Winifred Goldring (born February 1, 1888 – died January 30, 1971) was an American paleontologist. A paleontologist is a scientist who studies fossils to learn about ancient life. Winifred Goldring studied ancient stromatolites and crinoids from the Devonian period. The Devonian period was a time in Earth's history about 419 to 359 million years ago. She was the first woman in the United States to be named a State Paleontologist.

Early Life and Education

Winifred Goldring was born in Kenwood, New York. Her father, Frederick Goldring, was an expert in orchids. Her mother, Mary Grey, was a local school teacher. In 1890, her family moved to Slingerlands, New York. There, they started a greenhouse business. Winifred lived in her childhood home for most of her life. She focused on her education and career, and she never married. She also enjoyed playing the violin.

Winifred started her education at Slingerland District school. After nine years, she went to The Milne School in Albany, New York. She graduated as the top student in 1905. In her free time, she loved exploring the outdoors. This is where she became very interested in ancient rocks from the Lower Devonian period.

She then went to Wellesley College, a women's school. She first planned to study classical languages. However, she soon fell in love with science. She earned her Bachelor's degree in 1909 and her Master's degree in 1912. She also did graduate work at Harvard University. She finished her studies at Johns Hopkins University in 1921.

Professional Career and Discoveries

Winifred Goldring began her career teaching geology at Wellesley College. She also taught at Boston's Teacher's School of Science. In 1912, she started working at the New York State Museum. She was a scientific expert in paleontology. Her job was to create exhibits and dioramas about ancient invertebrates. A diorama is a 3D model that shows a scene, often with models of plants and animals.

Crinoid Fossil Study

Winifred took on a big project at the museum. She collected and organized information from an unfinished study on Devonian Crinoids. Crinoids are marine animals that look like plants, sometimes called "sea lilies." In 1916, her boss asked her to finish this study. Other paleontologists had started it but couldn't complete it. Her task was to identify different types, or taxonomies, of crinoid fossils.

She completed this huge study in seven years. She recorded 25 families, 60 genera, and 155 species of crinoids. From these, she identified 2 new families, 18 new genera, and 58 new species! She also found that some fossil stumps were a new genus, which she named Eospermatoperis. Winifred published her findings in a large scientific book called a monograph in 1923. Her work was so respected that other scientists sent her their own fossils to identify.

Famous Dioramas and Teaching

Besides crinoids, Winifred also created many other dioramas for the New York State Museum. She studied the Petrified Sea Gardens, a site with ancient stromatolites. Stromatolites are layered rock structures formed by ancient bacteria. This site is now a special landmark in the United States.

Her most famous diorama showed a living fossil seed fern forest from the Devonian period. This forest was found in what is now Gilboa, New York. This model truly showed her skill as a paleontologist. It might have been the first diorama ever made about early life. This famous diorama was named the Gilboa Fossil Forest. In 1850 and 1920, petrified wood and fossils were found in Gilboa. Winifred studied these in 1920 and identified them as seed fern fossils.

Winifred was also a great educator. She wanted museum visitors to learn about paleontology. She wrote many books on geology, some even used in colleges. She also made two geological models to teach basic geology. They were called "What is a Fossil" and "What is a Geological Formation."

Leadership and Recognition

Winifred rarely traveled outside New York. However, one important trip she made was to Gaspé and Nova Scotia. She went there to collect Devonian fossils to help another scientist, Dr. John M. Clarke.

Over her first 10 years at the museum, she quickly earned several promotions. She became Assistant Paleontologist, then Associate Paleontologist, Paleobotanist, and Assistant State Paleontologist. Eventually, Winifred became the fourth State Paleontologist of New York. She was the first woman to hold this important position.

In 1949, she was elected president of the Paleontological Society. This is the largest group of paleontologists in the world. She was the first woman to lead this society. This was a big achievement because these science groups were mostly led by men. Her election showed how much she was respected for her research. Winifred faced challenges, like not always getting paid fairly. In 1918, she even briefly left her job because of low pay and too much pressure. But she returned and continued her important work.

After 40 years of dedication, Winifred Goldring retired in 1954. She spent her last 16 years at her family home in Slingerlands.