Vickers-Rich, Patricia (1944 - )

Summary

Patricia Vickers-Rich is Director of the Monash Science Centre, Monash University and a world renowned palaeontologist and geologist. Vickers-Rich researches the origin and evolution of Australasian vertebrates and their environments over the past 400 million years. She has special interest in Australian avian fossil non-passerines.

Details

Patricia Vickers-Rich was born and educated in the USA and migrated to Australia in 1976. Prior to arriving in Australia, she held a number of research positions including one at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (1972). There she studied the bird fossils collected from the Northern Territory and South Australia by joint Australian and American expeditions. One of her first appointments in Australia was as Lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences at Monash University. Over the next 20 years, Patricia Vickers-Rich held numerous positions within the University and is now Director of the Monash Science Centre and Personal Chair in Palaeontology. She is also a Research Associate at Tasmania's Queen Victoria Museum, the Museum of Victoria and Moscow's Paleontological Institute.

Vickers-Rich is a prolific writer and has co-authored at least 10 books, three of which have won major science publishing awards. Her refereed journal articles and published exhibition catalogues number well over 150. Patricia Vickers-Rich has also been awarded several prizes for excellence in science communication and elected to many prominent scientific organizations. She was Vice-President, President Elect then President of the Australian Association of Palaeontologists from 1992 to 1998.

Chronology

1963 - 1965

Career position - Research Assistant in Paleontology, University of California

1963 - 1965

Career position - Zooarchaeologist at the Nevada State Museum in Reno, USA

1966

Education - Bachelor of Arts (AB) in Palentology, University of Berkeley, USA

1968 - 1969

Career position - Teaching Assistant in Geology at Columbia University, New York

1969

Education - Master of Arts (MA) in Geology, Columbia University, USA

1970

Career position - Field Ecologist with the Organization of Tropical Studies in Costa Rica

1970

Career position - Member of the Sigma Xi (National Science Honorary Organization)

1972

Career position - Palaeontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York

1973

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Columbia University, USA

September 1973 - May 1976

Career position - Assistant Professor and Associate Curator at the Texas Tech University & Museum

c. 1976

Life event - Migrated to Australia (Melbourne)

June 1976 - December 1983

Career position - Lecturer in Earth Sciences, Monash University

1977 - 1983

Career position - Research Associate in Ornithology at the National Museum of Victoria

1984 - 1989

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences and Zoology, Monash University

1989 - 1995

Career position - Reader in Departments of Earth Sciences and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Monash University

1990 -

Career position - Member of the Society of Women Geographers in Washington, USA

1992 - 1993

Career position - Deputy Head of Earth Sciences, Monash University

1992 - 1994

Career position - Vice-President of the Australian Association of Palaeontologists

1993 -

Career position - Foundation Director of the Monash Science Centre, Monash University

1993

Award - Wildlife of Gondwana awarded the Eureka Prize

1993

Award - Michael Daley Award for Excellence in Science Technology & Engineering Journalism

1994

Award - Wildlife of Gondwana awarded the Whitley Medal for best book on the natural history of Australian animals

1994 - 1995

Career position - President Elect of the Australian Association of Palaeontologists

1995 -

Career position - Professor and Personal Chair in Palaeontology, Monash University

1995 -

Career position - Research Associate at the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston

1996 -

Career position - Member of the International Academy of Sciences of Nature & Society in Moscow

1997 - 1998

Career position - President, Australian Association of Palaeontologists

1998 -

Career position - Research Associate in Vertebrate Palaeontology and Ornithology at the Museum of Victoria

2000

Award - Dinosaurs of Darkness by T. H. Rich & Vickers-Rich awarded the Eureka Prize

2004 -

Career position - Research Associate in the Laboratory of Precambrian Organisms at the Paleontological Institute in Moscow

2004

Award - Magnificient Mihirungs by Vickers-Rich & Peter Murray awarded the Whitley Medal for best book on the natural history of Australian animals

2005

Award - W. Roy Wheeler Medallion, Bird Observers' Club

2007

Award - Selwyn Medal (jointly with Tom Rich), Victorian Branch, Geological Society of Australia

2014

Award - Honorary Bragg Member, Royal Institution of Australia

2016

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the earth sciences, particularly palaeontology, as an academic, to education curriculum development, and to international scientific organisations

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Book Sections

• Archbold, Neil; Vickers-Rich, Pat, 'Squatters, Priests and Professors: a Brief History of Vertebrate Palaeontology in Terra Australis' in Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia, Pat Vickers-Rich; J.M. Monaghan and R.F. Baird and T.H. Rich, eds (Melbourne: Pioneer Design Studios and Monash University Publications Committee, 1991), pp. 1-44. Details
• Turner, S.; and Vickers-rich, Pat, 'Sprigg, Glaessner and Wade and the Discovery and International Recognition of the Ediacaran Fauna' in Four Centuries of Geological Travel: the Search for Knowledge on Foot, Bicycle, Sledge and Camel, Wyse-Jackson, P. N., ed. (London: Geological Society, 2007), pp. 443-5. Details

Conference Papers

• Turner, S.; and Vickers-Rich, P, 'Reg Sprigg, Martin F. Glaessner, Mary Wade and the Ediacaran Fauna', in IGCP 493 Conference, Prato Workshop, Monash University Centre. August 30-31, 2004 (2004), p. 1.. Details

Edited Books

• Rich, P. V.; and Tets, G. F. Van eds, Kadimakara: Extinct Vertebrates of Australia (Lilydale: Pioneer Design Studios, 1985), 284 pp. Details

Resources

• GSA Victoria, Selwyn Medal, Geological Society of Australia, Victorian Division, 2022. https://www.gsavic.org/awards.html. Details
• 'Vickers-Rich, Patricia (1944-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1308042. Details

See also

• Robin, Libby, The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2001), 492 pp. Details