Palaeo Jam – Details, episodes & analysis

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Palaeo Jam

Dinosaur University

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/24d. Total Eps: 52

Palaeo Jam is a podcast exploring a range of issues in science and the community, using the multidisciplinary aspects of, and public fascination with, palaeontology. Palaeo Jam uses fossils, and other objects from palaeontology, to explore a range of scientific and social issues, and incorporate key research and discoveries into its content. that fancy description aside, it’s really an opportunity for host Michael Mills to chat with palaeontologists and learn some cool things!. Each episode is restricted to a strict, 30-minute timeframe. Each episode has a panel of up to three guests, and is hosted by award-winning science communicator Michael Mills. You can but a Palaeo Jam mug, and eventually others Palaeo Jam merch from the Dinosaur University shop!

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Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - lifeSciences
01/02/2026
#69
🇨🇦 Canada - lifeSciences
31/01/2026
#86
🇨🇦 Canada - lifeSciences
30/01/2026
#73
🇨🇦 Canada - lifeSciences
29/01/2026
#67
🇨🇦 Canada - lifeSciences
28/01/2026
#48
🇨🇦 Canada - lifeSciences
27/01/2026
#36
🇨🇦 Canada - lifeSciences
26/01/2026
#31
🇬🇧 Great Britain - lifeSciences
03/01/2026
#93
🇺🇸 USA - lifeSciences
29/12/2025
#100
🇬🇧 Great Britain - lifeSciences
27/12/2025
#88

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Score global : 63%

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A remarkable journey continues

Season 3 · Episode 8

Saturday, September 14, 2024 • Duration 30:00

Just over 12 months ago, as part of National Science Week, we spoke with Eleanor Beidatsch, in an episode titled, “A Journey into accessibility: Digging for fossils from a wheelchair.” Since that episode, Eleanor has graduated from the University of New England with First Class Honours, been awarded the $130,000 #ElevateSTEM scholarship for postgraduate research from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and has started her Masters!

As we noted in the notes to last year’s episode, “as a nine year old, Eleanor dreamed of being a palaeontologist, but always presumed her advanced physical disability, and use of a wheelchair would make “digging about in the dirt for fossils” impossible.”

In this episode of Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills chats with Eleanor about another remarkable 12 months, and about what lies ahead as she continues her brilliant journey in the world of palaeontology, and follows her fascination with prehistoric velvet worms!

Check out this story from the ABC about Eleanor’s graduation…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/eleanor-beidatsch-graduates-first-class-honours-geoscience/103839886

Here’s a link to last year’s episode with Eleanor…

https://palaeojam.podbean.com/e/a-journey-into-accessibility-digging-for-fossils-from-a-wheelchair/

Check out this video from Eleanor’s YouTube channel of her remarkable adventure in 2016, to a paleontological dig in the opal rich desert town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGxIR_yaNo

Here’s a story about Eleanor’s journey on the University of New England’s website…

https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2022/09/unearthing-discrimination-in-science

Along with studying palaeontology, Eleanor is a disability rights journalist, and writes for the ABC…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/eleanor-beidatsch/101651018

Here’s a link to the Elevate STEM website…

https://www.atse.org.au/what-we-do/pathways-into-through-stem/elevate/

You can find Eleanor on Instagram at…

https://www.instagram.com/eleanor.beidatsch/

And on Twitter at…

https://twitter.com/EBeidatsch

Here’s a link to Eleanor’s blog Accessible 4 Me…

https://accessible4me.wordpress.com/

For more information on the research being undertaken by the team at University of New England’s Palaeoscience Research Centre, head to

https://www.une.edu.au/research/research-centres-institutes/palaeoscience-research-centre

You can find Michael at @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

To connect with Dinosaur University on Facebook, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/DinosaurUniversity

At Palaeo Jam, we now have an Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/palaeo_jam

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So, you want to become a fossil?

Season 3 · Episode 7

Thursday, August 15, 2024 • Duration 30:00

So, you want to become a fossil? Good luck with that! There’s a whole sequence of things that need to take place in order for that to happen, and in this episode of Palaeo Jam, we explore those steps, and how unlikely it is that you will be able to complete all of them.

Recorded underground in Blanch Cave, in the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia, this episode sees host Michael Mills in conversation with PhD candidate Nerita Turner. Nerita’s work focuses on the modes of accumulation of large animal remains in caves, and we explore the unlikelihood becoming a fossil through the lens of her work. In order to become a fossil in a cave, you need to get into a cave in the first place. How does this impact on the size and kinds of animals that might then become fossils within a cave?

During the conversation Nerita describes the fossil record as “Infamously incomplete”. So, how incomplete is it? Consider the following… There are 1400 dinosaur species of dinosaurs that have been discovered and named across the entire Mesozoic, while right now there are around 11 000 species of living dinosaurs, in birds. How many dinosaur species lived across the entire 186 million year period of the Mesozoic? We will never know.

Of course, what we do know, is truly remarkable, and a testament to the work of so many. Palaeontology is able to provide us with some remarkable insights into past lives. to uncover past lives. It is important, however, to understand, that we get to see will only ever be a tiny glimpse of the extraordinary natural history, of this most astonishing planet.

Nerita Turner is a PhD Candidate at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on the modes of accumulation of large animal remains in caves, with a particular focus on fossil sites within the Naracoorte Caves region.

You can find Nerita on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nerita_turner

Check out the following article, by Nerita and Dr Elizabeth Reed…

“Using historical research to constrain the provenance and age of the first recorded collection of extinct Pleistocene large mammal fossils from the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia.”

Theropods Down Under

Episode 32

Thursday, December 7, 2023 • Duration 30:00

The fossil record of Theropod dinosaurs in Australia is sparse, and our understanding of them is poor. In a recent publication of the first chapter of his PhD, PhD Candidate Jake Kotevski is on his way to changing that.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Jake about the recent identification of the oldest-known Megaraptorid skull fragment, found on an Eastern Victorian beach in Australia, nearly 20 years ago. What does this unique and important fragment tell us about Australian Theropods and their place in the world? In just one of the concepts they discuss, it supports the theory that Megaraptorids originated in Australia. Tune in for more!

To read the paper, “A megaraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) frontal from the upper Strzelecki Group (Lower Cretaceous) of Victoria, Australia”, head to… https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667123002975#sec7

You can find Jake on Twitter at @Dinoman_Jake

https://twitter.com/Dinoman_Jake

And on Instagram at @theropods_down_under

https://www.instagram.com/theropods_down_under/

The Evans EvoMorph Lab where Jake is based for his PhD is on Twitter at @EvansEvoMorph

https://twitter.com/evansevomorph

For information on visiting the Dinosaur Dreaming site mentioned in the podcast, head to…

Connecting with the community

Episode 31

Thursday, November 16, 2023 • Duration 29:55

In August 2023, Michael Mills travelled to various communities in Australia, to record multiple episodes of the Palaeo Jam podcast for National Science Week. One of the enduring conversations born of the tour was how a community might engage with its local fossil heritage, and

In this episode, recorded in Naracoorte, South Australia, in front of a live audience, we discuss a range of ideas of what local communities might do to better engage, and what the challenges and opportunities might be.

Do you know the fossil heritage of where you live? Do you have any ideas for better engaging your local community with that heritage? And even if you do, do you know how to go about doing something about it?

In the 15th episode of this season recorded for National Science week, host Michael Mills explores the possibilities with Site Manager, Naracoorte & Tantanoola Caves, Tom Short; University of Adelaide PhD candidate Nerita Turner; Site Interpreter at Naracoorte Caves National Park, Georgia Blows, and with an awesome appearance towards the end from Isla aged 9 and Quinny, aged 7.

Thanks to the Naracoorte Lucindale Council whose commitment to engaging with their community has helped make this project possible. You can find them on Facebook at… https://www.facebook.com/naracoortelucindalecouncil

And their website at https://www.naracoortelucindale.sa.gov.au/

You can find Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills on Twitter at @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

To connect with Dinosaur University on Facebook, follow us at

The Dinosaur Kids-Part 2

Episode 30

Thursday, November 9, 2023 • Duration 30:00

12 months ago, Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills chatted with three students from Flinders University in South Australia who had just completed the first year of a palaeontology degree, about their experiences in first year. In this episode of Palaeo Jam, Michael chats with the same three students… Dylan Slinn, Natalie Jackson and Thomas Khajeh… about their experiences in second year. Having finished for the year, and while waiting for their final results, we explore the challenges and the highlights of what was a very different year to first year. We find out how each of them are getting clarity in where they see themselves heading. We learn about what they have found matters for each of them in this important year in the journey.

And just as we got a commitment from all three at the end of last year to come together 12 months later, no matter what… Dylan, Natalie and Thomas have all made the same commitment to do it all again, same time, same place, in 2024. Bring on third year! And bring on what lies beyond!

You can find last year’s podcast episode, featuring Dylan, Natalie and Thomas on your preferred platform. You can also hear it here…

https://palaeojam.podbean.com/e/the-dinosaur-kids-part-1/

You can find Natalie at:

Tik Tok - @nataliemaree_art https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=nataliemaree_art

Twitter - @PalaeoNat https://twitter.com/PalaeoNat

Thomas’ sister, who he mentioned in season 1 is on Insta is at @thelostgirldraws https://www.instagram.com/thelostgirldraws/

Her etsy is at https://www.etsy.com/shop/LizzysStickerCo

Dylan Slinn can be found as Dylan Slinn on Facebook

Michael on Twitter at @HeapsGood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

Planet of the Plants!

Episode 29

Friday, October 20, 2023 • Duration 29:59

Plants matter. Without them, there’d be no us! There’d have been no dinosaurs! There’d have been no animals of any kind. When we go into our gardens, the thing we see most clearly, are the plants. In this episode, Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills chats with Director of the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium, and Lecturer in Plant Systematics, at the University of New England, Dr Andrew Thornhill about the evolution of plants, and why they’re rather important to all of us!

Recorded in the controlled environment that is the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium, amongst thousands of plant specimens, Michael and Andrew talk about what a herbarium is and why it matters, and explore key moments in plant evolution.

For more information on Dr Andrew Thornhill check out the following blog from the University of New England…

https://blog.une.edu.au/pulsenews/2023/09/25/meet-andrew-thornhill-director-of-the-n-c-w-beadle-herbarium/

You can find links to Andrew’s research at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8QZdc_0AAAAJ&hl=en

Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills can be found on Twitter as @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

For more on the work Michael and HeapsGood Productions, check out the link… https://linktr.ee/HeapsGoodProductions

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The Mega-fauna muncher from Down Under!

Episode 28

Thursday, September 28, 2023 • Duration 30:00

Eight million years ago, in what is now Alcoota, in central Australia, it is thought that a catastrophic event occurred leading to the death of hundreds of individual animals. While devastating for the individuals, it’s also an event that was followed by a process of fossilisation that has ensured we have a remarkable record of who lived in that place at the time, and who died in those moments.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, recorded in the very place of its discovery, in the very week that its discovery was published, aside from getting a sense of what it was like in Alcoota eight million years ago, we get to learn about Baru iylwenpen, the single most complete known mekosuchine crocodile in Australia, if not the world.

The species name was taken from the Anmetyerre language, meaning excellent and skilled hunter. The fossils suggest Baru iylwenpen had the strength to prey on other megafauna such as the giant flightless bird Dromornis stirtini, also known as the Thunder Bird! Indeed, Baru iylwenpen was the largest and most dangerous predator that's found at the Alcoota fossil bed, and would have pretty much munched on whatever it wanted!

Here’s a link to the original paper on Baru iylwenpen…

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/spp2.1523

Dr Adam Yates is the Senior Curator of Earth Sciences at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. He is a palaeontologist with a broad interest in extinct fauna of Australia and South Africa where he spent 8 years prior to joining MAGNT in late 2011.

You can read some of Adam’s research here…

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam-Yates-3

A journey into accessibility- Digging for fossils from a wheelchair

Episode 27

Thursday, September 7, 2023 • Duration 30:49

Being able to access field trips to dig up fossils has long been a central feature of studying palaeontology, and being a palaeontologist. But what if you have been born with a rare and severe genetic condition, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 1 like Eleanor Beidatsch? As a nine year old, Eleanor dreamed of being a palaeontologist, but always presumed her advanced physical disability, and use of a wheelchair would make “digging about in the dirt for fossils” impossible.

But Eleanor Beidatsch is many things, and being passionate and determined, is just a part of of it. In this episode of Palaeo Jam, recorded as part of our National Science Week tour, host Michael Mills chats with Eleanor about the challenges faced by students with disabilities in accessing opportunities to study, her own amazing journey to studying palaeontology at the University of New England, about her fascinating research into velvet worms, and about what comes next.

Check out this video from Eleanor’s YouTube channel of her remarkable adventure in 2016, to a paleontological dig in the opal rich desert town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGxIR_yaNo

Stay up top date with a documentary project involving Eleanor, her family, and colleagues during their time at the 2023 Palaeo Down Under conference and the Kalbarri field-trip…

https://www.australasianpalaeontologists.org/documentary

Here’s a story about Eleanor’s journey on the University of New England’s website…

https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2022/09/unearthing-discrimination-in-science

Palaeo research from the high country

Episode 26

Sunday, September 3, 2023 • Duration 30:00

What do we know about the boundary between the Ediacarans and the Cambrians, an astonishing predator from the early Cambrian, and one of the things palaeontologists get asked about more than just about anything… How did some dinosaurs get so big?

We’re LIVE for a second time in Armidale for National Science Week at The Welder’s Dog Brewery, on Anaiwan country, also known as high country, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

In this episode, we discuss some of the fascinating paleontological research going on at the University of New England through the Palaeoscience Research Centre. To do this, Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills is joined by Professor John Paterson, Dr Marissa Betts, and Dr Nic Campione.

You can find our more about John’s research from his University of New England profile at https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/jpater20

Marissa’s UNE profile at https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/marissa-betts

And Nic’s UNE profile at https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/dr-nicolas-campione

For more information on the research being undertaken by the team at University of New England’s Palaeoscience Research Centre, head to

https://www.une.edu.au/research/research-centres-institutes/palaeoscience-research-centre

Stories of the high country

Episode 25

Monday, August 28, 2023 • Duration 30:01

We’re LIVE in Armidale for National Science Week at The Welder’s Dog Brewery, and in this episode, recorded on Anaiwan country, we’re talking about the creatures that once dwelt in this place, and nearby.

Of dinosaurs such as “Lightning Claw”, giant marsupials that left teeth marks on the bones of other giant marsupials, and tiny fossils too small for the naked eye to see. Along the way, we talk about the extraordinary changes that have taken place in the geology of the region that at one time during the Permian, was a volcanic wasteland, at an earlier time, was under the sea, and that is now, the highest city in Australia. In this episode we are reminded that wherever you are, there are fascinating prehistoric stories just waiting to be discovered!

To discuss all this and more, host Michael Mills is joined by Professor John Paterson, Dr Marissa Betts, and Dr Nic Campione, all from the University of New England, right here in Armidale.

You can find our more about John’s research from his University of New England profile at https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/jpater20

Marissa’s UNE profile at https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/marissa-betts

And Nic’s UNE profile at https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/dr-nicolas-campione

For more information on the research being undertaken by the team at University of New England’s Palaeoscience Research Centre, head to

https://www.une.edu.au/research/research-centres-institutes/palaeoscience-research-centre

Palaeo Jam – Details, episodes & analysis

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Palaeo Jam – Details, episodes & analysis

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