Simon
M. Clabby (BSc (Hons), MSc) is a palaeontological writer, with works
published in France,
Mexico and his native England. He has done consultation work for
the EarthSim project,
and assisted with the preparation, replication and demonstration
of Thecodontosaurus bones for the Bristol
Dinosaur Project, working with the University
of Bristol, the @t
Bristol science centre and Rockwatch,
part of the Geologist's
Association.
Simon's
area of expertise is dinosaurs from the Wessex
Formation of the Isle of Wight, an Early Cretaceous site containing
many unique specimens, and has both advised and written on the
subject, as well as delivered lectures to varied audiences across
southern England.
His
interest in dinosaurs started in primary school, with a reading
of the children's book "Megs Eggs", which features dinosaurs
hatching from eggs and ravaging a witch's garden. From then, he
was hooked, watching documentaries, movies, and pestering his
parents until visits were made to the Natural
History Museum, London and other dinosaur attractions around
the UK
Later,
he went on to study Palaeobiology at the University
of Portsmouth, England, which he then supplemented with a
Masters degree in Palaeobiology at the University
of Bristol, England. After leaving these prestigious institutions,
he went on to assist with the creation of an artificial intelligence-based
computer simulation of Early Cretaceous Utah for Qube
Software Ltd.
Simon
devoted most of his time to maintaining DinoWight, which managed
to get many exclusives about Isle of Wight discoveries long before
they hit the national and international press, such as the naming
of the pterosaur Caulkicephalus
and the discovery of a sauropod
25 metres long, the largest known from Europe!
He
lives in Portsmouth with his girlfriend Hannah, his favourite
dinosaur is Iguanodon and
his hobbies include fossil hunting (obviously), knot tying and
model making. His greatest accomplishment in the field of palaeontology
was becoming the third person, but first non-Russian speaker,
to find a trilobite in a quarry in Päri,
Estonia, where trilobites are rarer than Polacanthus
skeletons. His life ambitions are to discover a new species of
dinosaur and to see a badger. His favourite dinosaur films are
"Jurassic Park" (Universal Studios), "King Kong"
(RKO) and "One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing!" (Disney)."