| Joan Wiffen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 30 June 2009 (aged 87) Hastings, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Fields | Paleontology |
| Known for | First discovery of dinosaur fossils in New Zealand |
| Notable awards | Morris Skinner Award |
| Spouse | Pont Wiffen |
Joan Wiffen (1922 – 30 June 2009) was a New Zealand amateur paleontologist.[1]
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Joan Wiffen was brought up in Havelock North and King Country. Born in 1922 Joan Wiffen only had a very short secondary school education as her father believed that higher education was wasted on girls,[2] so he made her leave. At the age of sixteen Joan joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II where she served for six years.[2]
In 1975 Joan Wiffen discovered the first dinosaur fossils in New Zealand in the Maungahounga Valley in Northern Hawkes Bay. Her first discovery was the tail bone of a theropod dinosaur. Her later finds included bones from a hypsilophodont, a pterosaur, an ankylosaur, mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.[2] In 1999, Wiffen discovered the vertebra bone of a titanosaur in a tributary of the Te Hoe River.[3] The fossils Wiffen found are primarily held in a GNS Science collection.
In 1995, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in honor of her discoveries. In 2004, she won the Morris Skinner Award from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.[1]
In 1953 Joan Wiffen married her husband Pont Wiffen and they had two children together, one in which they named Chris. But before the children were born Pont and Joan travelled wifely in both New Zealand and Australia collecting both minerals and small fossils of sea animals. Joan and her husband were very interested in fossils, and Pont ended up taking classes on fossils and such things. One day when Pont was home sick, Joan went to the class in his place and ever since then she was in awe of dinosaurs and fossils. She died at the age of 87 on 30 June 2009 in Hastings Hospital.[2]