WALCOTT, Charles Doolittle [1850-1927] -- paleontologist, Mary Clark Thompson Medal
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Mary Clark Thompson Medal (1921 1°, U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
Wiki: Charles Doolittle Walcott
Working the Walcott-Rust quarry (Herkimer County, NY) he found one layer (the "Ceraurus layer"), which yielded specimens uniquely preserved with calcified appendages, forming the basis of his earliest and still classic papers which first documented biramous limbs of trilobites.
In 1909 he discovered the fantastic Burgess Shale quarry, which he named in 1911.
Excavations here were to occupy him for the remainder of his life.
The degree of preservation of soft tissues in Burgess Shale fossils is remarkable. 
Chronology |
1870-1876 | Developed the Walcott-Rust quarry |
1879 | Joined US Geological Survey (USGS) |
1894-1927 | Director of USGS |
1896 | Elected to National Academy of Science |
1907-1927 | Secretary of Smithsonian Institution |
1909 | Honorary Doctorate from University of Cambridge (ENG) |
1909 | Discovered the Burgess Shale (quarry) |
1921 | Mary Clark Thompson Medal |
1921 | 1° recipient of U.S. National Academy of Sciences Mary Clark Thompson Medal |
1923 | President of American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
