The evolution of the Joggins Fossil Centre

Don Reid is an extraordinary man.

In the 1980s, the former Joggins coal miner operated a private fossil centre in his own backyard. Using the old wooden office building from the Joggins Coal Mine, he "sliced off the top floor" (his words) and turned it into his single-storey fossil exhibition gallery, which housed his impressive collection of Joggins fossils.

The success of this first make-shift centre led on to the development of what is known locally as the "log building", which is still located on Main Street but now houses a local history exhibition. This centre and Don's enthusiasm for interpreting the fossils to visitors was the catalyst for the development of the new, 21st century centre here atop the cliffs in everyone's backyard, which seems a fitting conclusion thus far to the evolution of the Joggins Fossil Centre.

Don's collection has served as the most important census of the biodiversity of the site and his altruistic collaboration with the scientists earned from them the title "Keeper of the Cliffs". Don was recently awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship by Rotary International.

We are pleased to confirm that Don is still very much a figure in the new centre and will be spending more time with us this season, enhancing his celebrity status! Don's anecdotal presentations on the fossils, how and where they were found and his memories of the cliffs of Joggins provides a valuable extra dimension to the visitor experience.