Nicholas Fraser
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{{Infobox academic
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| name = Nicholas C. Fraser
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| birth_name = Nicholas Campbell Fraser
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|1|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
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| nationality = British
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| title = Keeper of Natural Sciences
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| spouse = {{marriage|Christine Mary Fraser|1982}}
| children = Two
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| discipline = Palaeontology
| sub_discipline = Triassic period
Vertebrate palaeontology
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| alma_mater = University of Aberdeen
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| workplaces = Virginia Museum of Natural History
National Museums Scotland
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Nicholas Campbell Fraser (born 14 January 1956), known as Nicholas C. Fraser, is a British palaeontologist, academic, and museum curator. He specialises in the Triassic period and vertebrate palaeontology. Since 2007, he has been Keeper of Natural Sciences at the National Museums Scotland. He has been adjunct professor of geology at Virginia Tech since 1993 and at North Carolina State University since 2007.{{cite web|title=FRASER, Dr Nicholas Campbell|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U246910|website=Who's Who 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=14 January 2016|date=November 2015}}{{cite web|title=Dr Nick Fraser|url=http://www.nms.ac.uk/about-us/collections-departments/natural-sciences/dr-nick-fraser/|website=National Museums Scotland|access-date=14 January 2016}}
Early life
Fraser was born on 14 January 1956 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, to Hugh and Patricia Fraser. He studied zoology at the University of Aberdeen, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1978. He remained at Aberdeen to undertake postgraduate research in geology, and completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1984.
Career
Fraser began his career as an academic, and was a research fellow of Girton College, Cambridge between 1985 and 1990. He maintains his link to academia through a number of visiting positions: since 1993, he has been adjunct professor of geology at Virginia Tech;{{cite web|title=Nicholas C. Fraser|url=http://www.geos.vt.edu/people/nfraser|website=Department of Geosciences|publisher=Virginia Tech|access-date=14 January 2016}} since 2007, he has also been Adjunct Professor of Geology at North Carolina State University.
In 1990, Fraser moved to the United States where he joined the Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH). He worked there for the next 18 years. He was Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology from 1990 to 2007, and also Director of Research and Collections from 2004 to 2007. He remains affiliated with VMNH as a research associate.{{cite web|title=Adjunct Researchers|url=http://www.vmnh.net/vmnh-senior-fellows-research-associates,-and-affiliated-researchers|website=Virginia Museum of Natural History|access-date=14 January 2016}}
In 2007, he returned to the United Kingdom. That year, he joined the National Museums Scotland as Keeper of Natural Sciences, and Head of its Department of Natural Sciences. In addition, he is involved in the TW:eed Project (Tetrapod World: early evolution and diversity),{{cite web|title=Dr Nick Fraser|url=http://tetrapods.org/principal-investigators/national-museums-scotland.html|website=TW:eed Project|access-date=14 January 2016}} and in investigating the Jurassic vertebrates of the Isle of Skye.
Throughout his career, Fraser has been involved in a number of excavations worldwide including sites in China, Europe, and North America. He has completed 10 seasons of excavation at the Morrison Formation in Wyoming, USA. He helped name Amotosaurus, a tanystropheid protorosaur from the Middle Triassic in Germany;{{Cite journal | last1 = Fraser | first1 = N. C. | last2 = Rieppel | first2 = O. | title = A new protorosaur (Diapsida) from the Upper Buntsandstein of the Black Forest, Germany | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | pages = 866 | year = 2006 | doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[866:ANPDFT]2.0.CO;2 }} Fuyuansaurus, a protorosaur reptile from the Middle Triassic in China;{{Cite journal | last1 = Fraser | first1 = N. C. | last2 = Rieppel | first2 = O. | last3 = Chun | first3 = L. | doi = 10.1080/02724634.2013.764310 | title = A long-snouted protorosaur from the Middle Triassic of southern China | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 33 | issue = 5 | pages = 1120 | year = 2013 }} and Eobalaenoptera.{{cite journal|last1=Dooley|first1=Alton C.|last2=Fraser|first2=Nicholas C.|last3=Luo|first3=Zhe-Xi|title=The earliest known member of the rorqual—gray whale clade (Mammalia, Cetacea)|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|date=2004|volume=24|issue=2|pages=453–463|doi=10.1671/2401|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233183121}}
Personal life
Honours
In 1985, Fraser was awarded an honorary Master of Arts (MA (Catab)) degree by the University of Cambridge.
Selected works
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Fraser|editor1-first=Nicholas C.|editor2-last=Sues|editor2-first=Hans-Dieter|editor2-link=Hans-Dieter Sues|title=In the shadow of the dinosaurs: early Mesozoic tetrapods|date=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521452427}}
- {{cite book|last1=Fraser|first1=Nicholas|last2=Henderson|first2=Douglas|author-link2=Doug Henderson (artist)|title=Dawn of the dinosaurs: life in the Triassic|date=2006|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-0253346520}}
- {{cite book|last1=Sues|first1=Hans-Dieter|author-link1=Hans-Dieter Sues|last2=Fraser|first2=Nicholas C.|title=Triassic life on land: the great transition|date=2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0231135221}}
- {{cite journal |author1=Stephen L. Brusatte |author2=Mark T. Young |author3=Thomas J. Challands |author4=Neil D. L. Clark |author5=Valentin Fischer |author6=Nicholas C. Fraser |author7=Jeff J. Liston |author8=Colin C. J. MacFadyen |author9=Dugald A. Ross |author10=Stig Walsh |author11=Mark Wilkinson |year=2015 |title=Ichthyosaurs from the Jurassic of Skye, Scotland |journal=Scottish Journal of Geology |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=43–55 |doi=10.1144/sjg2014-018 |url=http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/176434 |hdl=20.500.11820/3199e6cb-1bf6-4e32-bf5e-acd1d7157532 |hdl-access=free }}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Fraser |editor1-first=Nicholas C. |editor2-last=Sues |editor2-first=Hans-Dieter |title=Terrestrial conservation Lagerstätten: windows into the evolution of life on land |date=2017 |publisher=Dunedin Academic Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-1780460147}}
References
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Category:British palaeontologists
Category:Virginia Tech faculty
Category:North Carolina State University faculty
Category:People from Nottingham