I have been interested in fossils and rocks nearly all of my life. Growing up near Lake Ontario with two brothers, I spent a childhood filled with camping, canoeing and exploring. Learning was important in our home. That was fine with me! When I was choosing a career path, I had expected to follow a more traditional route, one that would be considered appropriate for a young lady in 1901. I enrolled in modern languages at Victoria College, University of Toronto. Maybe it was actually good luck that ill health forced me to stop my studies because, once I was well enough, I changed fields entirely. I took up a post in the Mineralogy Division of the University of Toronto Museum instead. In 1909, I became a museum assistant at the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa. Although I officially retired in 1946, I kept an office there until 1963.

A lot happened during those 54 years at the Geological Survey of Canada. My fieldwork focussed on the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Valley, mainly because I could do my fieldwork on foot, by bicycle and, eventually, by car, without going to remote areas with men, which was frowned upon.

When I won a scholarship in 1919 from the Canadian Federation of University Women, my employer waited seven years before giving me leave to pursue my PhD. Eventually, in 1929, when I was 48, I achieved that goal.

The best and most enjoyable years of my career were spent after I reached retirement age! I loved to teach and share my passion for geology and paleontology. I wrote a book on geology for children. I continued my scientific work. Gradually, my contributions were recognized. It took five people to replace me when I retired. Carleton University gave me an honorary degree in 1960. I was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1938, the first woman ever to become a Fellow of the Society.

There were many barriers along the way, but I would like to think that other women are finding it easier now. At least nobody can say that a woman cannot achieve as much as a man!