Biography

Ben is a vertebrate palaeontologist and science communicator.

He has been launching expeditions to retrieve fossil whales, sharks and megafauna for the last decade across Victoria (Australia), working with a group of citizen scientists to locate this material for the state collection.

His primary focus is on the preparation, extraction, identification, and conservation of fossil Cenozoic tetrapods from southern Australia. His work takes him across the state, in working quarries and underwater. He has retrieved hundreds of scientifically important specimens for the state collection.

In 2024, Ben was the Visiting Curator for Prehistoric Bayside, a 3-month palaeontology-based exhibition at the Bayside Gallery and Bayside City Council. Hundreds of scientifically valuable specimens were displayed and the exhibition broke all attendance records for the gallery.

Ben currently works at Glen Eira City Council as the Community Climate Action Specialist. With over a decade of experience in communicating science for a general audience, Ben has worked at Parks Victoria, Healesville Sanctuary (Zoos Victoria), Museums Victoria and SEALIFE Melbourne Aquarium.

Ben regularly appears on ABC 774AM and RRR 102.7FM spruiking his work across the state, and was recently featured for an entire episode on ABC’s Play School, where he danced and sang on stage.