Elizabeth ('Betsy') L. Nicholls was honoured for her work in which field of science?

Elizabeth (Betsy) L. Nicholls (January 31, 1946 – October 18, 2004) was an American-Canadian paleontologist who specialized in Triassic marine reptiles.

She was a paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada.

Nicholls was born in Oakland, California, and received her undergraduate degree in 1968 from the University of California, Berkeley and her graduate degrees, an M.Sc. in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1989, from the University of Calgary, working under Samuel Paul Welles. She was the co-editor with American vertebrate paleontologist Jack M. Callaway of the book ‘Ancient Marine Reptiles’. ‘Latoplatecarpus nichollsae’ was named in her honour.

Nicholls was awarded a 2000 Rolex Awards for Enterprise laureate for exploration for her leadership in excavating the remains of a large ichthyosaur, ‘Shonisaurus sikanniensis’ (Nicholls & Manabe, 2004), from the Upper Triassic Pardonet Formation in a remote area of the Sikanni Chief River in British Columbia.

Nicholls died from cancer in 2004 at age 58.

On May 6, 2017 the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre established the Dr. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Nicholls Award for Excellence in Paleontology at its annual ‘Dig Deep Gala’. The announcement was made in the presence of Nicholls' husband and children to whom a plaque was given in honour of the occasion.