Victoria Louise "Tori" Herridge, born 1980, is a
palaeontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
at the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
in London and one of the founders of
TrowelBlazers
TrowelBlazers is a project aimed at increasing the representation of women in the fields of archaeology, geology and palaeontology. The project is run by Brenna Hassett, Victoria Herridge, Suzanne Pilaar Birch and Rebecca Wragg Sykes.
Blog
Tr ...
, which celebrates women
archaeologists
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
, palaeontologists and
geologists
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...
.
Career
Herridge graduated with a first class degree in
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
from
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
in 2002. After a master's degree at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
, she returned to University College London to gain a doctorate with a thesis titled "
Dwarf Elephant
Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea which, through the process of allopatric speciation on islands, evolved much smaller body sizes (around ) in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example ...
s on Mediterranean Islands: A Natural Experiment in
Parallel Evolution
Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and paral ...
". Her research addressed evolution of island mammals during the Pleistocene period and their responses to extreme climate change. She is a founding editor-in-chief at the
open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
journal ''
Open Quaternary''.
Science communication
Herridge delivered the 2012 Charles Lyell Award lecture at the
British Science Festival
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
and co-wrote ''Who Do You Think You Really Are?'' for the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
. The film was a Premier Award Winner in 2011. As well as her academic output she is a
popular science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
writer: her work includes a piece on the ethics of cloning
mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...
s versus the importance of saving endangered elephants, and one on the importance of studying the history of women in science (with
Brenna Hassett
Brenna R. Hassett is an American British bioarchaeologist at University College London (UCL), author, public speaker and one of the founders of TrowelBlazers, which celebrates women archaeologists, paleontologists and geologists.
Early lif ...
, Suzanne Pilaar Birch and
Becky Wragg Sykes), both published in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''.
In November 2014 Herridge co-presented the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
documentary about the autopsy of the Maly Lyakhovsky Mammoth (aka "Buttercup"). She presented the 2016 Channel 4 series ''Walking Through Time'' and co-presented three series of ''
Britain at Low Tide
''Britain at Low Tide'' (also known as ''Shoreline Detectives'') is an archaeology and social history television programme that debuted on Channel 4 in 2016, with further series in 2018 and 2019. It was originally co-hosted by former ''Time Team' ...
'' (2016, 2018 and 2019; series 1 with archaeologist
Alex Langlands
Alex Langlands is a British archaeologist and historian, also known for his work as a presenter of educational documentary series on British television and a lecturer of medieval history at Swansea University.
Education
Langlands has degrees ...
). In January 2020 she presented ''Bone Detectives: Britain's Buried Secrets'' on Channel 4.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herridge, Victoria
British palaeontologists
Women paleontologists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
British television presenters
Alumni of University College London
British women archaeologists