Profile
Rebecca Bennion
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About Me:
I live with my partner in Yorkshire. I am a palaeontologist working on ancient sea creatures. During the day I work at a museum in the Yorkshire Dales. In my spare time I enjoy listening to music and making jewellery.
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I carry out research into prehistoric sea monsters, especially sharks, marine reptiles such as mosasaurs, and whales! Recently I was involved in the discovery of Perucetus, a giant fossil whale from Peru which may have been bigger than the blue whale.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I work in a museum in the Yorkshire Dales – cataloguing and researching the collections, and designing exhibitions.
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Our museum collections are all about how the local landscape has influenced local people. This includes local rocks and fossils and historical objects from people’s daily lives. We also have lots of old diaries, maps, newspapers, and photographs! I am also carrying out research into the fossil sharks of the local area.
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Education:
I did GCSEs and A-Levels at schools in North Yorkshire. I studied sciences but also other subjects too such as French!
I went to university in Cambridge to study sciences (specialising in Zoology – the study of animals). I then did a Masters degree at the University of Southampton specialising in Palaeontology (the study of fossils), and moved out to Belgium to study for a PhD at a university over there.
A PhD is a fun qualification as it is basically an independent scientific project which I ran for several years. At the end of it, if your supervisors and examiners approve of your work, you are able to call yourself Dr!
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Qualifications:
GCSEs (the usual assortment of sciences, English, maths etc with chosen subjects of languages, history and geography)
A Levels (sciences, mathematics, French)
First degree in Natural Sciences
Masters degree in Vertebrate Palaeontology
PhD in Palaeontology looking at skull shape in marine reptiles, whales, and dolphins.
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Work History:
In the school year 2016-2017 I worked in a boarding school in Sussex. I was a science teaching assistant, and also helped out with university applications and student counselling.
After I finished my PhD I worked in various museums in Yorkshire and Manchester – running fossil walks, cataloguing collections, and talking to the public!
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Current Job:
I am Documentation Officer at the Museum of North Craven Life, employed as part of a big project called Dynamic Collections!
We are carrying out a big review of the collections in the museum, building a ‘Community Catalogue’.
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Employer:
The Museum of North Craven Life in Settle, North Yorkshire. We are a small local museum based in a beautiful old building.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
Zoologist
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Jewellery maker
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Two Steps From Hell
What's your favourite food?
Curry
Tell us a joke.
What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
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