321Z Fall 2025 Fossil Hunting on the Jurassic Coast of England

For 185 million years, the bones of strange creatures were entombed in the cliffs on the coast of Southern England. Released now and then by storms that eroded the coastal bluffs, they inspired fantasy and fear among local people. Mary Anning, a young girl from a poor family became the self-taught expert on the mysterious monsters that eventually provided support for the theory of evolution. On a tour with paleontologists from New Scientist magazine, the instructor made her own fossil finds on the beaches of the Jurassic Coast. The group also took a special sightseeing cruise focused on the unique geology of this UNESCO site. It is the only place on Earth where an unbroken sequence of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous time periods can easily be seen in one place.

Bonnie Becker was Title IX coordinator for Fairfax County Public Schools and has taught human relations for UVA. She also taught ESOL to recent refugees at the Washington English Center. Her OLLI programs have included The Bayeux Tapestry, Lost City of Petra, and Meeting Older Men (Neanderthals!).