Details of the lecture

“The Jurassic World of Mary Anning: the pioneering woman paleontologist of the 19th century and her contemporaries“

Aaron Hunter, scientist and reserarcher, will give an introduction to 19th century palaeontologist Mary Anning and we will discover how she searched the Jurassic rocks of England’s south coast to unearth what were believed to be sea dragons and which we now call marine reptiles. The lecture will look at the social history and influences of Mary Anning and the 19th century scientists that she would have worked with. We will not only look at these spectacular fossil remains, but also see how palaeontologists have revealed how these ancient extinct animals lived.

Lecturer: Dr Aaron Hunter

Dr Aaron Hunter, theartssociety.org

Dr Aaron Hunter is a professional scientist and researcher with the University of Cambridge and a prize-winning London Blue Badge Guide, a Green Badge Guide for the City ofLondon and Oxford, and a City of Bath Mayor’s Guide. As a palaeontologist, he is an expert onfossils and prehistoric life from the first animals to appear on our planet to the evolution of early humans. He has published research on the origin of marine animals 480 million years to theJurassic World. After degrees in Geology & Palaeobiology, he gained his PhD from the University of London and went on to pursue an academic career working first as a research fellow in France,Germany and Japan and then as a Senior Lecturer in Malaysia and Western Australia. He has apassion for archaeology, history, architecture and the history of art. He gives lectures that encompass these subjects looking at the interface between the arts and sciences.

Blue lias cliffs, MichaelMaggs, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons