Victoria Arbour

Victoria Megan Arbour is a Canadian evolutionary biologist and vertebrate palaeontologist at Royal BC Museum, where she is Curator of Palaeontology. An "expert on the armoured dinosaurs known as ankylosaurs",[1] Arbour analyzes fossils and creates 3-D computer models. She named the possible pterosaur Gwawinapterus from Hornby Island, and a partial ornithischian dinosaur from Sustut Basin, British Columbia (now named Ferrisaurus), and has participated in the naming of the ankylosaurs Zuul,[2][3] Zaraapelta,[2] Crichtonpelta,[4] and Ziapelta.[5]

Victoria M. Arbour
NationalityCanadian
EducationBSc, PhD
Alma mater
Known forAnkylosaurs
Scientific career
FieldsPaleontology
Institutions
ThesisSystematics, evolution, and biogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs (2014)
Doctoral advisorPhilip J. Currie
Websitepseudoplocephalus.com

Early life and education

Born in 1983, Arbour is from Halifax, Nova Scotia.[6] Her mother, a math teacher, and father, a soil scientist, supported her science interests.[7] Arbour completed a B.Sc. Honours Thesis supervised by Milton Graves, An ornithischian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin, British Columbia, Canada, and graduated from Dalhousie University in 2006.[8] She completed her master's thesis, Evolution, biomechanics, and function of the tail club of ankylosaurid dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) in 2009, and her Ph.D. thesis, Systematics, evolution, and biogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs, in 2014, both advised by paleontologist Philip Currie at the University of Alberta.[9]

Career

Arbour became Curator of Palaeontology at Royal BC Museum in 2018.[10]

She previously worked as a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto and Royal Ontario Museum.[11][12][13] As the top-ranked female candidate for the fellowship, she also received a supplement available to applicants who demonstrate "exemplary involvement in science promotion, mentorship, and leadership".[14]

From 2014 to 2016 she was a postdoctoral researcher with a joint appointment at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University.[5][15]

Arbour primarily studies dinosaurs in the group Ankylosauria, including biomechanical analyses of tail clubs.[4][16] Arbour has studied microfossils from Nova Scotia.[9] She has also named the possible pterosaur Gwawinapterus from Hornby Island, and a partial ornithischian dinosaur from Sustut Basin, both locations in British Columbia.[9] She has participated in the naming of the ankylosaurs Zuul,[2][3][17] Zaraapelta,[2] Crichtonpelta,[4] Ziapelta,[5][18] as well as resurrecting Dyoplosaurus,[19] and publishing a new phylogenetic analysis on the interrelationships of Ankylosauridae.[20]

According to Brian Alary of the University of Alberta, "She's contributed to history-making research by analyzing fossils and creating 3-D computer models, developed course materials and taught 35,000 students at a time through the Dino 101 MOOC."[6] Philip Currie credits Arbour for involving the paleontology discipline with the University of Alberta's "Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science & Technology", making study of dinosaurs more appealing to women.[6]

References
  1. "L'Oréal For Women in Science 2016: Victoria Arbour". www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca. Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Communications. August 1, 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  2. Hamers, Laurel (2017-06-13). "New dinosaur resurrects a demon from Ghostbusters". Science News. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  3. Greshko, Michael (2017-11-29). "Stunning Dinosaur Likely Used Armour to Flirt as Well as Fight". National Geographic. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  4. Yong, Ed (2017-05-10). "Meet Zuul, Destroyer of Shins—a Dinosaur Named After the Ghostbusters Monster". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  5. Dunham, Will (2015-09-01). "King of clubs: intriguing tale of the 'tank' dinosaur's tail". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  6. Alary, Brian (9 June 2014). "Dinosaur scholar digs into childhood dreams". Folio. University of Alberta. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  7. Nath, Ishani (2017-05-14). "What It's Like to Dig for Dinosaurs—*Spoiler Alert* It's Pretty Cool". Flare. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  8. Arbour, Victoria M. (April 28, 2006). "An ornithischian dinosaur from the Sustut Basin, British Columbia, Canada" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  9. "Faculty of Science – Victoria Arbour". Dalhousie University. 2018. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  10. "Dr. Victoria Arbour | Staff Profiles". Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  11. "Digging it: Dr. Victoria Arbour (BSc'06)". Dalhousie University: Alumni Spotlight. May 18, 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  12. Pickrell, John (2017-09-18). "What if dinosaurs hadn't died out?". BBC Future. BBC. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  13. Elbein, Asher (2016-10-12). "Did Plant-Eating Dinosaurs Really Only Eat Plants?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  14. Division, Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Communications. "NSERC and L'OréalUNESCO For Women in Science Supplement". www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  15. Gaines, James (2015-09-14). "How armored dinosaur got its bone-bashing tail". CBS News. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  16. Switek, Brian (2016-06-16). "Sadly, "Ankylosaur Fight Club" Is Probably Wishful Thinking". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  17. Riva, Nicole (May 9, 2017). "New dinosaur species named after Ghostbusters villain Zuul". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  18. Switek, Brian (2014-09-25). "Ziapelta – New Mexico's Newest Dinosaur". Phenomena. National Geographic. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  19. Switek, Brian (5 November 2012). "D is for Dyoplosaurus". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  20. Arbour, Victoria M.; Currie, Philip J. (2015). "Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology: 1. doi:10.1080/14772019.2015.1059985.
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