A field excursion to the Wellington Caves in outback NSW was part of a step-back-in-time experience for Investigator College Year 11 student William Soper.
As recipient of the latest Flinders University James Moore Memorial Palaeontology Prize, the Victor Harbor high school student enjoyed getting a taste for fossil hunting at the bottom of a five-metre pit in the majestic Cathedral Cave, where the fossil record goes back beyond 70,000 years.
“The atmosphere underground in the cave was amazing. The first bone that I identified was a Thylacoleo ankle,” says Soper, 17.
“We were taught how to identify bones and predict what animal they were from. This kind of ‘hands-on’ experience was so different from school … and I was able to see how resistant fossils are, refusing to disappear even in some extreme environments.”
“They remain hidden, waiting for us to find them. It really solidified my interest in palaeontology, which I hope to study in the future.”
Applications for the 2024 prize are now open
The James Moore Memorial Prize was established in 2016 in memory of Flinders University palaeontology graduate James Moore who died suddenly in 2014 at the age of 24. Details on how to apply for the 2024 prize – which is open to all high school students until 5pm on Tuesday 17 September – can be found on the Flinders University website.
Understanding the impact of climactic changes
Gavin Prideaux, Flinders University Professor of Palaeontology, says the Wellington Caves site is providing one of the most detailed records in Australia of faunal and floral change in one area from before humans arrived, through to the first 20,000 years of human presence in the region.
“This provides us with an opportunity to explore the impacts of climatic changes and human activities on regional plant and animal communities and is an ideal training ground for budding fossil hunters enrolled in our science and palaeontology courses at Flinders.”
He told EducationDaily enrolments have “skyrocketed in each of the last two years in the Bachelor of Science (Palaeontology), and we now have more students coming from interstate and overseas than locally. Nothing needs to be done judging from those stats”.
“Palaeontology has a high public profile and is inherently interesting to people. It’s never not been that way; what has changed is that Flinders now offers a full degree rather than the odd subject, which is what some other universities offer,” Prideaux says. “Most have no palaeontology.”
Despite some areas of scientific study actively promoting towards women to encourage more females into the fields, Prideaux makes it clear that this is not the case with palaeontology.
“There are fewer males in the degree,” he told EducationDaily.
“The challenge is not in attracting women to palaeontology, but rather is the same as it is in most, if not all, areas of science: transitioning post-study to a career in the field.”
Australia offers unique opportunities
For those keen to pursue a potential pathway in the field, Australia is, Prideaux says, a remarkable and unique place to enjoy a career in palaeontology.
“Australia has had a very different history to most other continents: it was isolated for many millions of years and evolved a unique array of animals and plants that exist nowhere else in the world. This means that we can use what we learn from Australia to test theories that have been developed in the Northern Hemisphere, where the animals and plants and the entire histories of the continents is very different,” he says.
“At the same time, of all the continents, it is only Antarctica about which we know less. Amazing discoveries are made all the time and there are big gaps in knowledge to fill. In many ways, we are a century behind North America and Europe in our exploration of the fossil record.”
Flinders researcher Dr Diana Fusco, who attended the field trip with William and Flinders students and volunteers earlier in the year, has just returned from another long-distance field excursion to central Australia.
“This award is a don’t-miss opportunity for high school students passionate about palaeontology,” she says.
As well as South Australia’s world-famous Naracoorte Cave complex, previous prize winners have gone on field trips to the Alcoota fossil beds in central Australia and another megafauna site on the Murray River in NSW.
“The location differs every year, depending on our research schedules, but the field trips always provide an incredible hands-on palaeontology experience, working alongside some of Australia’s leading experts in this field.”
