We made the front page of this week's Amherst Citizen

We made the front page of the Amherst Citizen today, with a great article covering our recent CNTA Awards recognition.

I (that's me in the photo) was interviewed by Andrew Wagstaff, local reporter, who is keen to ensure that the message of the Joggins Fossil Centre and its positive impacts on local and regional tourism are perpetuated.

Thanks Andrew for a great story.


http://www.citizenweekly.com/index.cfm?sid=233631&sc=136

CNTA Attraction of the Year

On Friday evening, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were presented with another award from the provincial tourism industry.

The CNTA (Central Nova Tourism Association) bestowed upon us the Attraction of the Year Award.

The awards, which followed the CNTA's Annual Conference, were an intimate affair, thanks to yet another winter snow storm, which kept some attendants away. The conference had some fantastic speakers on the itinerary and we were reminded of the value of Social Media, such as our blog, in inspiring discussion and dialogue, in engaging you the public and in receiving feedback and suggestions.

We are incredibly proud to win this award and thank both the CNTA and the people who nominated us.

It is a strange category for us. Indeed we are an attraction, but we are so much more than that too. We are educators, conservators, interpretors, international ambassadors and heritage managers. The site would exist even if we weren't there in our fantastic visitor centre, but would visitors understand it? Would its significance be appreciated? Probably not, which underlines the value in promoting the site as an attraction.

Thanks CNTA, we appreciate your support.

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin

Joggins, by all accounts should be the home of the most evolved life forms on earth.

Why? Well, it was here at Joggins that Sir William Dawson discovered the first true reptile, Hylonomus lyelli, ancestor and great great great great grandfather of all dinosaurs that would rule the earth 100 million years later.

This tiny reptile serves as the reference point where animals finally broke free of the water to live on land. This evolutionary milestone recorded at Joggins remains pivotal to understanding the origins of all vertebrate life on land, including our own species.

2009 holds a number of anniversaries, pertinent to us here at Joggins, not least the 200th birthday of Carles Darwin, father of evolution but also the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Hylonomus and the publishing of Darwin's on the Origin of the Species.

So, like all London buses, there are no celebrations for a while and then three come along at once!

Joggins Fossil Institute welcomes new Science & Education Coordinator

We are very excited here at the Joggins Fossil Institute. After a long search, we have found the perfect candidate to undertake the immense remit of Science and Education Coordinator - Melissa Grey. BSc MA PhD


Melissa, who will be returning home to the Maritimes from BC, received a PhD in Geological Sciences from the University of British Columbia for her study of evolutionary patterns of bivalves across space and time. She has a strong interest in marine paleontology, conservation, and natural history and has worked for a diverse range of employers including, the Geological Survey of Canada, Project Seahorse, and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre.

Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Acadia University and a Master’s degree in Zoology from the University of Guelph.

Taking on this position for the Joggins Fossil Institute is the perfect position for Melissa and we are extremely excited to be able to welcome her onto the small but now perfectly formed team here at Joggins where Melissa will join; Jenna Boon, Director, Melanie Cookson-Carter, Operations Coordinator, Lorna Terrio, Admin Assistant and a very outnumbered Andrew Hanley, Educational Programmer.

It seems that at Joggins, girl power rules!