A journey into accessibility- Digging for fossils from a wheelchair

Palaeo Jam

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

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

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

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

Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

For more info on his work as Creative Director, HeapsGood Productions, head to… https://linktr.ee/HeapsGoodProductions