Elizabeth (Betsy) Laura Nicholls (January 31, 1946 – October 18, 2004) was an American-Canadian paleontologist who specialized in

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

marine reptiles. She was a paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada.

Early life and education

Nicholls was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, and received her undergraduate degree in 1968 from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and her graduate degrees, an M.Sc. in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1989, from the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

, working under Samuel Paul Welles.

Career

She was the co-editor with American vertebrate paleontologist Jack Murff Callaway of the book ''Ancient Marine Reptiles''. '' Latoplatecarpus nichollsae'' was named in her honor, as was '' Nichollsemys''. Nicholls was a 2000 Rolex Awards for Enterprise laureate for exploration for her leadership in excavating the remains of a large ichthyosaur, '' Shonisaurus sikanniensis'' (Nicholls & Manabe, 2004), from the Upper Triassic Pardonet Formation in a remote area of the Sikanni Chief River in British Columbia.

Death and legacy

Nicholls died from cancer in 2004 at age 58. On May 6, 2017 the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre established the Dr. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Nicholls Award for Excellence in Paleontology at its annual Dig Deep Gala. The announcement was made in the presence of Nicholls' husband and children to whom a plaque was given in honour of the occasion.

Selected publications

* Giant ichthyosaurs of the Triassic—a new species of ''Shonisaurus'' from the Pardonet Formation (Norian: Late Triassic) of British Columbia, EL Nicholls, M Manabe - ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', 2004 * New material of ''Qianichthyosaurus'' Li, 1999 (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Late Triassic of southern China, and implications for the distribution of Triassic icthosaurs, EL Nicholls, C Wei, M Manabe - ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', 2003 * New thalattosaurs (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation of Wapiti Lake, British Columbia, EL Nicholls, D Brinkman - ''Journal of Paleontology'', 1993 * New material of ''Toxochelys latiremis'' Cope, and a revision of the genus ''Toxochelys'' (Testvoines, Chelonioidea), EL Nicholls - ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', 1988 * The first record of the mosasaur ''Hainosauru''s (Reptilia: Lacertilia) from North America, EL Nicholls - ''Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences'', 1988 * The oldest known North American occurrence of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Liassic (Lower Jurassic) Fernie Group, Alberta, Canada, EL Nicholls - ''Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences'', 1976

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Elizabeth Canadian paleontologists Canadian women scientists University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Calgary alumni 1945 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American women scientists Scientists from Oakland, California Paleontology in Alberta 21st-century American women scientists Canadian women paleontologists American women paleontologists 20th-century American scientists 21st-century American scientists 21st-century Canadian women scientists 21st-century Canadian scientists