Born into a poor family in Dorset in 1799, Mary Anning went on to become one of the greatest fossil collectors who ever lived. A pioneer in the field of palaeontology, she discovered several significant fossils – as well as the near-complete and partial skeletons of several dinosaurs – in the early 19th century, a time when most Brits still did not believe in evolution or extinction and had no concept of a prehistoric era.

But like so many women in STEM, Anning’s significant contributions to the field of palaeontology went mostly overlooked for generations. As a woman, she was not allowed to join the Geological Society of London, and while many male scientists reported on the dinosaur remains that she discovered, few gave her any credit for finding them.

Now, an 11-year-old girl from Anning’s hometown has spearheaded a successful campaign to erect a statue paying tribute to the palaeontologist. A keen fossil hunter from Lyme Regis, Evie looks up to Anning as her hero. When she asked her mother to take her to the statue of Anning, she was shocked to learn that there wasn’t one.

Evie subsequently started the Mary Anning Rocks campaign and wrote a letter to her local council, who agreed that Anning deserved a statue in Lyme Regis. Sculptor Hazel Reeves, who created the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst erected in Manchester last year, has now been commissioned to make the monument to Anning.

Why an 11-year-old girl is fighting for a statue of forgotten palaeontologist Mary Anning