Lesley Kool

Lesley Kool is an Australian palaeontologist and research associate at Museums Victoria. She is best known for her work on polar dinosaur and mammal fossils from the Cretaceous period in Victoria, and for her role in the discovery and preparation of the species Koolasuchus cleelandi, the State Fossil Emblem of Victoria.

Career Kool began her involvement in palaeontology in 1983, when she volunteered to join a dinosaur excavation in the Otways led by Dr Thomas H. Rich, Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology at Museums Victoria. The dig was part of an ongoing effort to investigate the Cretaceous deposits along Victoria's south coast, following up on the 1903 discovery of Australia's first dinosaur bone, the Cape Paterson Claw, by William Ferguson.

Over four decades, Kool has contributed to discoveries that reshaped understanding of how dinosaurs and early mammals adapted to polar conditions, challenging global theories about thermoregulation and evolution during the Cretaceous period. The genus name Koolasuchus honours both Lesley Kool and the “cool” polar environment where the fossil was found.

Honours On 26 January 2023, Lesley Kool was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for "service to palaeontology".

Personal life Kool lives in Wonthaggi North, Victoria, with her husband, Gerry.