Winifred Goldring (February 1, 1888 – January 30, 1971[1]) was an American paleontologist whose work included a description of stromatolites, as well as the study of Devonian crinoids.
[5] Goldring first began her career as a geology professor at her alma mater Wellesley College,[5] and as well obtained a position at Boston's Teacher's School of Science.
[5] At the New York State Museum, she was hired to work as a scientific expert where she specialized in invertebrate paleontological exhibits and dioramas.
[9] In 1916, her boss at the New York State Museum requested her to continue work on a crinoid fossil study, which had been started but not completed by several other paleontologists before her.
Her most famous diorama recreated the living fossil seed fern forest from the Devonian period in what is now Gilboa, New York.
In order to help Dr. John M. Clarke write his memoir on the areas of Gaspé and Nova Scotia, Goldring traveled there to collect Devonian fossils.
[4] In 1949 she was elected president of the Paleontological Society (the largest association of paleontologists in the world), the first woman to hold that office and one of only three women to attain that position to this day.
[4] Because these were (and still are) male-dominated geological societies, large numbers of men would not have supported her candidacy, underscoring her prominence as a nationally known geologist respected for the quality of her research, despite prevalent gender prejudices in academia.