author

Romayne Skartvedt

1916–1990

Best known as the co-author of a practical fossil guide first published in 1960, this writer helped make ancient Illinois plant life easier for beginners to explore. Her work has stayed in circulation for decades, including through Project Gutenberg.

1 Audiobook

Field Book: Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of Illinois

Field Book: Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of Illinois

by Charles William Collinson, Romayne Skartvedt

About the author

Romayne Skartvedt is credited as the co-author, with Charles Collinson, of Field Book: Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of Illinois, an Illinois State Geological Survey publication first issued in 1960 and reprinted in 1966. The book was designed as a beginner-friendly guide to collecting and identifying plant fossils found in Illinois.

That field guide has had a long afterlife. It is available through Project Gutenberg, and modern reprints and listings have helped keep the book visible to new readers interested in paleobotany and fossil collecting.

Reliable biographical details about Skartvedt herself are scarce in the sources I could confirm, so it is safest to remember her through this enduring contribution: a clear, accessible science book that opened a door into deep prehistoric time for general readers.