Van Waterschoot van der Gracht Penning

Erkenning voor levenswerk

Op donderdag 2 november 2006 zal te Amsterdam de Van Waterschoot van der Gracht Penning van het KNGMG (Koninklijk Nederlands Geologisch en Mijnbouwkundig Genootschap) worden uitgereikt aan Professor Bert Boekschoten. 

Auditorium, Hoofdgebouw
Het programma ziet er als volgt uit:
15:45 uur:    Ontvangst
16:15 uur:    Uitreiking van de Penning
16:45 uur:    Staringlezing door Prof Dr. A.J. van Loon
17:45 uur:    Borrel

Hieronder een biografische schets van de laureaat door Paul H. Lambers (uit: Geologie en Mijnbouw, 1999, 78, no. 2; met enige toevoegingen)

In 1942, close to his home in Hilversum, Bert Boekschoten for the first time found a fossil: a flint with bryozoans. His uncle, who was an enthusiastic amateur collector, put him in touch with the well known Dutch collector van der Lijn to explain what he had found and his interest in paleontology was born. He started collecting himself; as a young boy he used to go on bicycle to Winterswijk, in the eastern part of the Netherlands, which is quit a distance from Hilversum, to collect fossils in the Miocene outcrops around there. Because his interest in geology and paleontology went further than only collecting, in 1952 he took up a study in geology at the University of Utrecht. Among his teachers were the eminent paleontologist Prof. von Koenigswald, specialist in fossil hominids and micropalaeontologist prof. Drooger. During the first years of his study Bert astonished his fellow students with his almost encyclopedic knowledge of fossils; one of the things that later on made his classes and excursions a special experience. As a student he began developing his wide interest in many aspects of paleontology. Being originally interested in invertebrates and mollusks in particular, Bert published several papers on mollusks from Dutch deposits, the first one in 1954 (1), when he was in his 2nd year of his study.

In 1959 he moved to Groningen, to work at the Geological Institute, led by famous Dutch geologists Prof. Kuenen and later Prof. van Straaten. In the small Geological Institute teaching of paleontology to students of geology and biology was his main task. Bert's research was devoted to forams, but his broad interests made him explore more aspects of paleontology and geology. Besides work on mollusks from several localities throughout the Netherlands and Europe (6, 8, 18, 19, 30, 34), he was one of the first together with Dr Paul Sondaar, to study the small elephants, rhinos and deer and the giant mice of Crete, Cyprus and the Balearics and the phenomenon of dwarfism of large animals and gigantism of small species, which is typical of island faunas (15, 20, 31). He also published on the geology of Crete (4, 7, 9, 26, 36). Bert maintained his interest in the geology and paleontology of The Netherlands. He wrote on several aspects of tertiairy and quarternary geology and paleontology (12, 17, 24) and in 1973 published an updated version of P.J. van der Lijn's Keienboek (32), a collector's guide to erratics from The Netherlands. In the meantime he continued working on forams, and in 1969 he published his PhD-thesis on the foraminifera from a boring in Northern Germany (23).    

Oldest traces of life on earth
A special field of interest was the actuopaleontology: the study of recent biological phenomena, together with their fossil counterparts, in order to get a better understanding of the fossil record. In this line Bert began to study ichnofossils, traces of organisms that were left on the substrate that these organisms lived on or in. In 1966 and 1967 he published several influential papers on traces that were left on shells by recent organisms and, in the light of this study, similar fossil traces (14, 18). Later, he stayed involved in trace-fossil research (25, 37, 51). As an actuopaleontologist he expanded his field into the study of reefs and corals. He joined several expeditions to Indonesia (the Snellius II and post Snellius 2 expedition), the CAN CAP expeditions of the Natural History Museum in Leiden to the Atlantic Ocean, and an expedition to the Seychelles to study recent coral reefs and to integrate his findings with research on fossil material (papers on fossil and recent corals and reefs, 39 and onwards). In 1988 Bert, together with two colleagues, published the discovery, near Grythyttan in Sweden, of stromatolite structures that represent the oldest traces of life found in Europe (56).    

In 1967 Bert Boekschoten was appointed as privaat docent (unsalaried university lecturer) in Paleontology at the University of Groningen. In 1974 he became lector (lecturer) in Paleontology (35) and in 1980 this position was upgraded to a professorship. He was supervisor of PhD research on a variety of subjects, such as the study of whelk shells from the North Sea, paleobiology of favositid corals, biology of globiginerid foraminifers and its paleobiologic implications, the reefs of Curaçao and Bonaire and the phylogeny of Mesozoic fishes. At present he is supervisor of several PhD studies on a variety of paleontological subjects and is involved in the study of mesozoic vertebrates.    

Last professor in general paleontology in the Netherlands
Bert stayed at the University of Groningen till 1986, when the Geological Institute, due to a reorganisation of the study of geology in the Netherlands, closed its doors. This was also the unfortunate end of the small, successful, and among students of biology, popular paleontological department and an illustration of the difficult position of paleontology at Dutch universities. He continued his work at the marine geology group of the Institute of Earth Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. There he was mainly involved in teaching paleontology for under-graduate and graduate students. He kept his position, for one day a week, as Professor of Paleontology at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. At the time of his retirement he was the last professor of general paleontology in the Netherlands and with his retirement there is no chair in general paleontology in the Netherlands anymore.   

Besides paleontology, Bert Boekschoten is interested in aspects of archeology. He published (5) on an archeological subject. In several occasions he acted as supervisor for PhD students at the Archeological Institute of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He was involved in research in archaeozoology, a.o. on mites, fish remains and mammal remains from archeological sites. The main supervision of this research was done by dr A. Clason of the archeological institute.   

Infectuous enthusiasm
Among students, Bert is well-known for his lively lectures and practical instruction, illustrated with beautiful slides and sometimes hilarious anecdotes from the field of paleontology. Bert always shows an infectuous enthusiasm for paleontology and he is a master at transferring his enthusiasm to his students. He sees himself as someone who has to show how beautiful fossils and paleontology are and to teach how important they are to understanding the history of life on earth and the processes that are still going on. He wants to give his students the opportunity to work with fossils and he is always able to invent very original subjects and problems to study. From his students he expects enthusiasm, dedication and originality and the ability to do research independently. His field excursions throughout Europe were always very popular among students, not in the least because Bert loves to combine the pleasure of paleontology by day with the pleasure of good food and wine and cultural events by night.    

Bert is a long serving member of the editorial board of the Dutch geological journal Geologie en Mijnbouw. He was one of the initiators the Biochron, a permanent exposition on earth science and paleontology in the Zoo in Emmen. He is not only active in the professional field of paleontology, he is also well-known among Dutch amateur paleontologists (65). Bert is always willing to make his knowledge and expertise available to others. He has been a long term member of the advisory board of Grondboor & Hamer, the journal of the Nederlandse Geologische Vereniging, the society for Dutch amateur geologists and paleontologists. He regularly published popular accounts on geological and paleontological matters in Grondboor & Hamer and is always helpful when people need his advice on paleontological questions.    

Although Bert Boekschoten is retired, he stays active in paleontology. He still teaches, is involved in research and there are several PhD students working under his supervision. Dutch paleontology will still benefit from his enthusiasm and originality.

Na zijn emeritaat is Bert actief gebleven binnen zijn vakgebied. Hij bleef elk jaar geologie-onderwijs verzorgen voor de biologie-studenten in Groningen. In het voorjaar van 2005 organiseerde hij, samen met Jan Delvigne, voor de laatste maal de geologische excursie voor de biologen. Ook buiten het universitaire curriculum treed Bert nog vaak op om lezingen te geven, onder andere in het kader van het HOVO-onderwijs en Studium Generale.Als laatste hoogleraar in de algemene paleontologie in Nederland is hij promotor geweest bij een groot aantal (macro)paleontologische (en ook archaeozoölogische) promoties. Ook na zijn emeritaat is hij nog als  promotor opgetreden (Mulder, Jagt, Vergoossen). Berts inzet en enthousiasme voor de paleontologie is nog altijd onverminderd.

Bibliography of Bert Boekschoten (book reviews not included)

1. 1954. De Midden-Oligocene mollusken van Winterswijk - Amoeba, 30, 12: 175--181.

2. 1957. Lavendelblauwe verkiezelingen op Gotland - Grondboor & Hamer 1958: 74--76.

3. 1962. Van en uit het Geologisch Museum te Groningen - Grondboor en Hamer 1962: 77--82.

4. 1962. Beachrock at Chersonisos - Geol. Mijnbouw 41: 3--7.

5. 1962. Note on Roman purple winning at Chersonisos, Crete - Basteria 26: 59--60.

6. 1963. Vondsten en verwachtingen van het Oligoceen van Oost-Nederland. Grondboor en Hamer, 1963, 3, 90--95.

7. 1963. Some geological observations on the coast of Crete - Geolog. Mijnbouw 42: 241--247.

8. 1963. Paleoecological notes on the septaria clay (Oligocene) of the eastern Netherlands - Proc. KNAW B 66, 5: 280--295.

9. 1963. On Cretan flysch and its igneous rocks - Praktika 38: 308--312.

10. 1964. Een steen met boorgaten - Grondboor & Hamer 1964: 40--43.

11. 1964. Tadpole structures again. J. Sedim. Petrology 34: 422--423.

12. 1965. Over de verspreiding van mammoetfossielen in noordelijk Nederland - Geol. Mijnbouw 44: 295--297.

13. 1966. Aantekeningen bij zwerfsteentellingen - Grondboor en Hamer 1966: 207--209 (with H.J. Veenstra).

14. 1966. Shell borings of sessile epibiontic organisms as palaeoecological guides (with examples from the Dutch Coast) - Paleogeogr. Paleoclim. Paleoec. 2: 333--379.

15. 1966. The Pleistocene of the Katharo Basin (Crete) and its Hippopotamus. (with P.Y. Sondaar). - Bijdr. Dierk. 36: 17--44.

16. 1966. Une faune des sables à Pycnodonte callifera sous l'argile rupélienne à Sint Niklaas-Waas (Belgique) - Bull. Soc. belge de Géol., de Pal. et d'Hydrol. 75: 141--146.

17. 1967. Over stenen-oriëntatie in het Nederlands keileem. (with H.J. eenstra) - Geol. Mijnbouw 46: 195--205.

18. 1967. Palaeoecology of some mollusca from the Tielrode sands (Pliocene, Belgium) - Paleogeogr. Paleoclim. Paleoec. 3: 311--362.

19. 1967. Eine fauna aus dem Glaukonitsand von Ootmarsum (Miozän, Niederlande) - Natuurhistorisch Maandblad 56: 39--48.

20. 1967. Quarternary mammals in the South Aegean Island Arc with notes on other fossil mammals from the coastal regions of the Mediterranean - Proc. KNAW, B, 70, 5: 556--576 (with P.Y. Sondaar).

21. 1968. Een vondst van Cervus elaphus, het edelhert, op Vlieland - Grondboor en Hamer 1968: 139.

22. 1969. Ein neuer Fund eines Limulinen aus dem Osnabrücker Karbon - Publ. Nat. Hist. Gen. Limburg 18: 16.

23. 1969. Fossilführung und Stratigraphie des Oligo-Miozäns von fünf norddeutschen Bohrungen - Meyniana 19: 77 pp.

24. 1969. Foraminiferen uit het Mioceen van Winterswijk, Miste - Meded. Werkgr. Tert. Kwart. Geol. 6: 27--30.

25. 1970. On bryozoan borings from the Danian at Fakse, Denmark. In: T.P. Crimes & J.C. Harper (eds) Trace Fossils. Geological Journal, Special Issues 3. Sealhouse Press, Liverpool: 43--48.

26. 1971. Quarternary Tephra on Crete and the eruption of the Santorin volcano. In: A. Strid (ed.) Evolution in the Aegean. Opera Botanica 30: 40--48.
    

27. 1971. Über Cölestin im Dogger von Sarstedt - Ber. Naturf. Ges. Hannover 115: 11--13.

28. 1971. Over componenten van locale herkomst in Noord-Nederlandse preglaciale zanden - Grondboor en Hamer 1971: 40--44 (with M.H. Huizinga).

29. 1972. Nogmaals: Rhombenporfierdiabaas - Grondboor & Hamer 1972: 19--20.

30. 1972. Über einige Molluskenfunde im Wellenkalk von Winterswijk (Niederlande) - Geol. Mijnbouw 52: 574--575.

31. 1972. On the fossil mammalia of Cyprus I/II - Proc. KNAW, B, 75, 4: 306--338 (with P.Y. Sondaar).

32. 1973. Het keienboek. 361 pp. W.J. Thieme, Zutphen. (update and reworking of the original text by P.J. van der Lijn).

33. 1975. Allophane and its initial crystallization products as concretions in the South Limburg chalk - Geol. Mijnbouw 54: 36--42 (with P. Buurman & Y. Koster).

34. 1975 Ueber einige Molluskenfunde im Wellenkalk von Winterswijk (Niederlande) - Geol. Mijnbouw 52: 574--575.

35. 1977. Luctor et emergo. Een episode uit het Devoon. Openbare les. Wolters Noordhoff, Groningen: 16 pp.

36. 1978. Une dolomie fossilifère neogène à Sission (à l'est de Heraklion, Crète) (with E. Georgiades-Dikeoulia) - Ann. Géol. des Pays Hellenique 28: 54--61.

37. 1980. Trace fossils and grazing traces produced by Littorina and Lepidochitona, Dutch Wadden Sea. (with P.J.W. Jüch) - Geol. Mijnbouw 59: 33--42.

38. 1981. On ascidian actuopaleontology - N. Jb. Geol. Palaont. Mh. 1981, 2: 76--83.

39. 1981. Pocillopora in the Miocene reef at Baixo, Porto Santo (Eastern Atlantic) - Proc. KNAW, B, 84, 1: 13--20 (with M. Wijsman-Best).

40. 1981. Earth science conservation: no science without conservation - Geol. Mijnbouw 60: 433--445 (with G.P. Gonggrijp).

41. 1982. On the coral fauna in the Miocene reef at Baixo Porto Santo (Eastern Atlantic) - Neth. J. of Zoology 32: 412--418 (with M. Wijsman-Best).

42. 1982. A teacher in two worlds. In: Von Koenigswald Memorial Volume. Mod. Quart. Res. in Southeast Asia 7: 33--34.

43. 1983. Zeolites palygonskite as weathering products of pillow lava in Curaçao - Geol. Mijnbouw 62: 409--415 (with P. Buurman & L.P. van Reeuwijk).

44. 1984. Indonesische stenensprokkels - Grondboor & Hamer 1984: 134--140.

45. 1984. Koraalrifonderzoek - Natuurkundige Voordrachten, N.R. 62: 152--154.

46. 1984. Species concept and ecomorph variation in living and fossil Scleractinia - Paleontographica Americana 54: 70--79 (with M. Borel Best & A. Oosterbaan).

47. 1984. Lemmata Geologie. Encyclopedie Nederlandse Antillen, 2de druk, Zutphen.

48. 1985. Recent bryozoan reefs and stromatolite development in brackish inland lakes, SW Netherlands - Senckenbergiana Maritima 17: 163--185 (with J. Bijma).

49. 1987. Investigations of recent and fossil coral reefs in Eastern Indonesia (Snellius II expedition), a preliminary report. Proc. 5th. Int. Coral Reef Symp. Tahiti 6: 311--316. (with M. Borel Best & H. Moll).

50. 1987. Een mammoetenkenner (Dick Mol) - Grondboor en Hamer 41: 145--147.

51. 1987. Fossil and recent borings of acrothoracic cirripeds - Geol. Mijnbouw 65: 257--268 (with P.H. Lambers).

52. 1987. Fossil terrestrial snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Cape Verde Archipelago - Basteria 51: 125--127 (with E. Gittenberger).

53. 1987. Conservation of geological sites. In: W.D. Visser, J.I.S. Sonneveld & A.J. van Loon (eds) - Seventy-five years of Geology and Mining in the Netherlands. KNGMG, Den Haag: 81--84.

54. 1987. Fossil and recent shallow water corals from the Atlantic Islands off Western Africa - Zool. Meded. 62: 99--112 (with M. Borel Best).

55. 1988. Comparative qualitative studies on coral species composition in various reef sites in the eastern Indonesian archipelago - Proc. 6th Int. Coral reef Symp. 3: 197--204.

56. 1988. Note on a mid-Proterozoic stromatolite limestone, south of Grythyttan, Bergslagen, Sweden - Geol. Mijnbouw 67: 467--469 (with A.C. Van der Raad, J.A.M. Kenter & J.J.G. Reymer).

57. 1988. Terugzien op Snellius II - Grondboor en Hamer 42: 39--42.
    

58. 1989. Past corals and recent reefs in Indonesia - Neth. J. Sea Research 23: 117--122 (with M. Borel Best, A. Oosterbaan & F.M. Molenkamp).

59. 1989. Van den beginne - Teylers Magazijn 23: 9--12.

60. 1991. Fish remains from the Aptian near Bentheim, Germany - Geol. Mijnbouw 74: 35--41 (with P.H. Lambers).

61. 1992. Zwerfstenenonderzoek: verleden, heden en toekomst - Grondboor en Hamer 46: 31--35.

62. 1994. The Seychelles carbonate platforms - Oceanic Reefs of the Seychelles 2: 183--192 (with M. Borel Best & J. van der Land).

63. 1995 Evolution of Indonesian Coral Reefs. In: T. Tomascik (ed) - Evolution of Indonesian Seas, Pt. 1, vol. 7. Periplus Editors, Singapore: 199--206 (with M. Borel Best).

64. 1995. Stromatoliet op rif: een Zeeuwse specialiteit - Grondboor & Hamer 1995: 54--56.

65. 1996. Een gedeelde passie voor geologie: amateur en beroeps - Grondboor en Hamer 50: 129--131.

66. 2001. Spiegel der Wetenschap. 200 jaar Koninklijk Natuurkundig Genootschap te Groningen. 1801-2001. 278 pp. Profiel Uitgeverij, Bedum.(Contributions on the history of earth-sciences in the Netherlands and in Groningen, in a book with co-authors Adriaan Blaauw, Ulco Kooystra, Dick Leijenaar, Franck Smit, Henny van de Windt, Marten van Wijhe; editor Kees Wiese).

67. 1999. The Hateg - island or outpost? In: Reumer, J.W.F. & De Vos, J. (eds.) - Elephants have a snorkel! Papers in honour of Paul Y. Sondaar - Deinsea 7: 195-198. (with C.-M. Jianu)

68. 2001. Minoisch thera; een vulkanische geschiedenis - Grondboor en Hamer, 55, 5: 10--14

69. 2002. Latimeria. Beeld van Aard- en Levenswetenschappen. 14 pp. VU, Amsterdam. (with R. Nieuwenhuys and N. With).

70. 2003. Hoe de mens de aarde veroverde. Cahiers Bio-Wetenschappen en Maatschappij "Systeem Aarde": 53--60.