Dr. Dean Lomax

So I went in as an 18-year-old, recognized that that was a real specimen.

They were like, what do you know?

You know, 18-year-old kid sort of thing.

But anyway, managed to confirm it was real.

That ended up becoming my first academic paper, which I began writing when I was 18, which is, I know it's a bit wild, and I will talk about my academic stuff.

But then...

That specimen ended up becoming the holotype, which is the founding specimen of a new species that I got to name and identify.

And I named it after my childhood hero, Mary Anning.

So I named it Ichthyosaurus Anningae.

So I think I'd have to put that in there.

It was a really pivotal thing in my professional career.

That's incredible.

Yeah, yeah.

And it also still to this day is like, it still gives me goosebumps thinking about that guy.

How did you know it was real then?

What was the first sign?

I think what it was is, I honestly remember it, Jack, like it was yesterday.

So it was first day volunteering at the museum.

And I met an archaeologist, Peter, and the education kind of chap called Alan.

They were like, hey, we've got this really cool cast, a replica that you could kind of see in the museum.