In Memorium : Dr. Joan Wiffen (1922–2009)

Abstract

“You can’t find fossils in the Mangahouanga by prospecting the mountain slopes.” I looked up. She wasn’t kidding. Dense, thick, tropical rainforest covered every inch of the mountain sides, right down to the edges of creeks, streams and rivers. “Instead…”, the little white-haired lady said, “…you walk up the creeks and streams and look for fossils in the gigantic concretions that have rolled down the mountain slopes and collected in the valley bottoms.” I looked for the hip-waders and rubber boots. There weren’t any to be seen. In the next split-second, just like she had done for the last thirty years of her life, the 77 year-old matron of New Zealand vertebrate paleontology, Commander, Order of the British Empire (CBE), Gold Medal winner of the New Zealand Geological Survey, “Dragon Lady” Dr. Joan Wiffen, turned, hitched up her slacks a bit, gripped her rock hammer, and walked into Mangahouanga stream, headed upstream. Almost immediately, she bent down, grabbed a small concretion from the creek bottom, smacked it …