Fraser, Nicholas C. 1956–

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Fraser, Nicholas C. 1956–

(Nicholas Campbell Fraser)

PERSONAL: Born January 14, 1956. Education: University of Aberdeen, B.Sc. (with honors), 1978, Ph.D., 1984;

ADDRESSES: Office—Virginia Museum of Natural History, 1001 Douglas Ave., Martinsville, VA 24112.

CAREER: University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, assistant curator of paleontology at Geology Museum, 1979–81; Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, fellow of Girton College, 1985–90; Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, curator of vertebrate paleontology, 1990–, director of Department of Research and Collections. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, adjunct professor of geology, 1993–.

MEMBER: Linnean Society (fellow), Aberdeen Geological Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Honorary master's degree, Cambridge University, 1985; National Geographic grants, beginning 1992; National Science Foundation grant.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with H.D. Sues) In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1994.

Contributor to books. Contributor of articles and reviews to paleontology and geology journals and to popular magazines, including Nature, Paleontology, Journal of Arachnology, New Scientist, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and Virginia Explorer. Modern Geology, member of editorial board, 1988–93, coeditor in chief, 1993–; Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, associate editor, 1993–94, coeditor, 1994–; Zoological Society of the Linnean Society, associate editor.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Terrestrial Vertebrate Evolution in the Early Mesozoic, for Gordon & Breach (New York, NY); Dictionary of Zoology, with M. Thain and Y.Z. Erzinclioglu, for Penguin Books (New York, NY).

SIDELIGHTS: While many dinosaur finds have been made in the American West, Nicholas C. Fraser has made significant paleontological discoveries at digs in the state of Virginia, where he has uncovered a wealth of fossils dating to the end of the Triassic Period. By finding these fossils from a time when evolution was making a transition from the Triassic to the Jurassic Period, Fraser's research has become helpful toward understanding the process of evolution on earth.