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TBFC Season 2025-2026 updates: Next In-Person Club Meeting is Sep. 12, 2026 @ 7pm EDT - Great White Evolution with Eileen Durkin in the USF Behavioral Science Room #103 (Click Link for Directions) Next Peace River Monthly Trip: Sept. 12, 2026 (Paid, Active Members only and water levels permitting) - Zolfo Springs Guage Next CEMEX Center Hill Trip: Sept. 23, 2026 (Paid, Active Members only. 18 or older. Limit 20 People) - Check the Chronicles for Details Next Bone Valley Fossil Farm Trip: Oct. 10, 2026 (Paid, Active Members only. Kid Friendly. Limit 20 Adults) Next Brooksville Trip: Nov. 11, 2026 (Paid, Active Members only. 18 or older. Limit 20 People) - Check the Chronicles for Details For any updates you can check the Field Trips page or the Calendar for details! contact us or send us a Facebook message if you have questions. |
Be sure to renew your Fossil
Permits! Never Dig into the River banks! Collection of Artifacts is Illegal on Florida state owned land!
President's Message
2026-2027 Season
TBFC is Back in Action!
Welcome back, fossil fanatics! The school buses are rolling, summer vacations are winding down, and the worst of Florida’s summer heat should be behind us. (Who am I kidding?) Either way, it’s time to dust off those fossil screens, check the snorkel/SCUBA gear, and get the Tampa Bay Fossil Club back into action!
While many of you were hiding from the heat, your TBFC Officers and Directors were busy preparing for another exciting season. We have a full schedule of club meetings, fascinating speakers, field trips, and plenty of opportunities to get outside and hunt for the fossils Florida has been hiding from us for a millennia!
The Peace River Is Calling! - Even with the rain we’ve been getting, the Peace River is still running under six feet at Zolfo Springs. This is good conditions for adult fossil hunters, although you may want to keep the kiddos out of the river for now. Check out Fred Hendshot’s Peace River Report in this edition for details.
Earlier this year, the Peace River reached historically low water levels, creating some excellent opportunities for fossil hunters. We’re looking forward to seeing all the incredible specimens that have been turning up as a result. If you’ve made a great find, don’t keep it to yourself! Bring your best specimens to the next TBFC meeting and show them off during our Show & Tell. You can also share your discoveries with fellow fossil enthusiasts on the TBFC Facebook page.
Before heading out, make sure your fossil-hunting permits are current and that you’re familiar with the latest river conditions. The Peace River can change quickly, especially after heavy rains; so take advantage of the low water levels while conditions remain safe. The fossils aren’t going to find themselves!
Congratulations to Our 2026 Scholarship Winners
I want to congratulate one of the two winners for 2026, Elise Samuelson. Elise attends the University of South Florida and is a Ph.D. student who joined TBFC Advisor Dr. Ryan Carney’s lab as an undergraduate during the summer of 2021.
Of particular interest to Elise are studies relating to anatomy, phylogeny, and morphology. Elise also has special skills and interests in 3D modeling, 3D printing, and digital art, and hopes to be able to incorporate these into her work. She plans to form her dissertation around crocodilian locomotion, specifically looking into forelimb walk cycles by reconstructing the anatomy in a 3D digital environment. With this, the findings can be used to infer and compare forelimb movement in both extinct and extant species of archosaurs.
At one of TBFC’s upcoming meetings, we will present a second scholarship to University of Florida student, Shay Rice, Ph.D.
Be good to one another and stay safe out there.
Good Hunting,
Missed a meeting or just want to watch it again? You can view our past meeting recordings or live streams in the playlist below (Also found in the About section):
New Members! - Over the last few meetings, we’ve been thrilled to welcome an increasing number of new members. It’s genuinely exciting to see fresh faces in the crowd, and we look forward to getting to know each of you, both at our meetings and out in the field. If you’re new to TBFC, thank you for choosing to join us. You are now part of a community of almost 600 fossil enthusiasts who share a passion for discovery, science, and Florida’s rich prehistoric past.
We meet monthly (except July and August), typically on the first Saturday. Schedule updates to the website will be made, as occasional schedule changes do occur. Field trips are also listed here and discussed at each meeting. We encourage you to attend regularly and join us afterward for a late dinner, where the conversation continues, usually about fossils, but not always, until the restaurant finally asks us to leave.
Announcements
Summer Break!
TBFC is on Summer Break! We will resume Meetings in September.
Next Meeting Presentation
September 12, 2026The Great Debate: The Evolution of the Great White Shark
with Eileen Durkin, Fossil Hunter, TBFC Director
7PM IN-PERSON CLUB MEETING at USF Behavioral Science Room #103
I’m getting to the age where everything that happened seems like it
was just yesterday, and everyone younger than me looks like a kid.
It certainly seems like Eileen joined TBFC just yesterday and that
she’s still the young person I met years ago. But the reality is that
she’s been a member of TBFC going on 15 years.
,br>
Eileen is a TBFC director, she films most of our meetings and has
handled our YouTube presence for years. She also helps me navigate the
Tweeter and Insta-thing whenever I run into problems that
seem to come with being a Boomer. She manages tampabayfossilclub.com and
has on occasion
provided articles
for the Chronicles, “Diving
with Durkin.” A
few years ago,
Eileen organized
a field trip to
hunt for Bone
Valley fossils at a
private land site
and was able to
negotiate a discount for our
members too.
Despite some serious medical challenges that might have kept most
people out of the water, Eileen persevered and became an accomplished SCUBA diver,
also earning her intro cave-diving certification.
I’ve had the pleasure of hunting fossils with Eileen in Florida and all
the way out to the Badlands of Nebraska. She brings youthful excitement and
enthusiasm to our fossil hunts and is a pleasure to be around.
Eileen has been a wonderful part of TBFC, and I’m grateful for all
she has contributed to the club over the years. I’m looking forward
to seeing what adventures, and perhaps a few more fossil finds, she
has for her September presentation.
Eileen has been fascinated by shark teeth since she began collecting
them as an eight-year-old child. What started as a childhood hobby
in 1996 has grown into a lifelong passion for sharks and fossil
hunting. While her career is in software engineering, she continues
to pursue her passion for fossil hunting, sharks, and sharing her
adventures with others.
The Great Debate: The Evolution of the Great White Shark - For
many years, scientists debated where the modern Great White
Shark came from. Was it a descendant of the giant megatoothed
sharks like megalodon, or did it evolve from an entirely different
group of sharks?
In September’s presentation, Eileen will explore the history of that
debate by following the fossil record in search of the ancestors of
today's Great White Shark. Along the way, we'll look at the fossil
evidence, how scientific thinking has changed over time, and why
most researchers now support a different evolutionary path than
many people grew up hearing about.
Whether you're new to fossil sharks or have been collecting for
years, this presentation will provide a fresh look at one of the most
interesting questions in shark paleontology.
Tampa Bay Fossil Chronicles
Hopefully you’ve noticed that TBFC has stepped up its game with the newsletter each month.
Please check out all of the articles in each issue. Only TBFC members receive the Chronicles, we don’t post it online or on Facebook.
Be sure to renew your Fossil
Permits! Never Dig into the River banks! Collection of Artifacts is Illegal on Florida state owned land!
