A pharmacist by training, but naturalist by heart, Brian Challinor developed a strong interest in belemnites and began publishing taxonomic, biostratigraphic, and paleobiogeographic papers in the late 1960’s. Brian’s abundant and meritorious efforts led to him being awarded a DSc by the University of Waikato in 1991, where he is currently a Research Fellow, and culminated in him being awarded a New Zealand Science and Technology Bronze medal in 2001.