# Victoria Herridge

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{{short description|British palaeontologist}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

'''Victoria Louise "Tori" Herridge''', (born 1980), is a British [palaeontologist](/source/palaeontologist) who currently serves as a [Senior Lecturer](/source/Senior_lecturer) at the [University of Sheffield](/source/University_of_Sheffield)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-11 |title=Herridge, Victoria, Dr |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/victoria-herridge |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=www.sheffield.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> and one of the founders of [TrowelBlazers](/source/TrowelBlazers). She is a founding editor-in-chief at the [open access](/source/open_access) journal ''[Open Quaternary](/source/Open_Quaternary)''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openquaternary.com/about/editorialteam|work=Open Quaternary|title=Editorial Team|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> She has written about [evolution](/source/evolution) of island [mammals](/source/mammals), the ethics of cloning [mammoth](/source/mammoth)s, and the importance of studying the history of women in science.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Herridge |first1=Victoria |last2=Lister |first2=A.M.|title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |year=2012 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3200 |pmid=22572206 |pmc=3385739}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/dwarfism |title=Dwarfism in Animals on Islands |work=The Geological Society |date=11 September 2013|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/18/mammoth-cloning-wrong-save-endangered-elephants|title=Mammoths are a huge part of my life. But cloning them is wrong|last=Herridge|first=Tori|date=2014-11-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/mar/08/the-history-of-women-in-science-shows-us-the-fight-is-worth-it-international-womens-day|title=The history of women in science shows us the fight is worth it|last1=Hassett|first1=Brenna|date=8 March 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=21 October 2021|last2=Birch|first2=Suzanne Pilaar|issn=0261-3077|last3=Sykes|first3=Becky Wragg|last4=Herridge|first4=Victoria}}</ref>
==Career==
Herridge graduated with a first class degree in [biology](/source/biology) from [University College London](/source/University_College_London) in 2002. After a master's degree at [Imperial College London](/source/Imperial_College_London), she returned to University College London to gain a doctorate with a thesis titled "[Dwarf Elephant](/source/Dwarf_elephant)s on Mediterranean Islands: A Natural Experiment in [Parallel Evolution](/source/Parallel_Evolution)". Her research addressed evolution of island mammals during the Pleistocene period and their responses to extreme climate change.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Herridge |first1=Victoria |last2=Lister |first2=A.M.|title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |year=2012 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3200 |pmid=22572206 |pmc=3385739}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/dwarfism |title=Dwarfism in Animals on Islands |work=The Geological Society |date=11 September 2013|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> She is a founding editor-in-chief at the [open access](/source/open_access) journal ''[Open Quaternary](/source/Open_Quaternary)''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openquaternary.com/about/editorialteam|work=Open Quaternary|title=Editorial Team|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref>

==Science communication==
Herridge delivered the 2012 Charles Lyell Award lecture at the [British Science Festival](/source/British_Science_Festival)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geosciencelines.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/british-science-festival-2012-focus-on-geoscience|title=British Science Festival 2012 – Focus on Geoscience|publisher=Geoscience Lines|date=29 August 2012|access-date=23 June 2014|archive-date=12 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112124644/http://geosciencelines.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/british-science-festival-2012-focus-on-geoscience/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and co-wrote ''Who Do You Think You Really Are?'' for the [Natural History Museum](/source/Natural_History_Museum%2C_London). The film was a Premier Award Winner in 2011. As well as her academic output she is a [popular science](/source/popular_science) writer: her work includes a piece on the ethics of cloning [mammoth](/source/mammoth)s versus the importance of saving endangered elephants, and one on the importance of studying the history of women in science (with [Brenna Hassett](/source/Brenna_Hassett), Suzanne Pilaar Birch and [Becky Wragg Sykes](/source/Rebecca_Wragg_Sykes)), both published in ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/18/mammoth-cloning-wrong-save-endangered-elephants|title=Mammoths are a huge part of my life. But cloning them is wrong|last=Herridge|first=Tori|date=2014-11-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/mar/08/the-history-of-women-in-science-shows-us-the-fight-is-worth-it-international-womens-day|title=The history of women in science shows us the fight is worth it|last1=Hassett|first1=Brenna|date=8 March 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=21 October 2021|last2=Birch|first2=Suzanne Pilaar|issn=0261-3077|last3=Sykes|first3=Becky Wragg|last4=Herridge|first4=Victoria}}</ref>

In November 2014 Herridge co-presented the [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) documentary about the autopsy of the Maly Lyakhovsky Mammoth (aka "Buttercup").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/woolly-mammoth-the-autopsy|work=Channel 4|title=Woolly Mammoth: the Autopsy|date=23 November 2014|access-date=21 October 2021|archive-date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204215402/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/woolly-mammoth-the-autopsy|url-status=dead}}</ref> She presented the 2016 Channel 4 series ''Walking Through Time'' and co-presented three series of ''[Britain at Low Tide](/source/Britain_at_Low_Tide)'' (2016, 2018 and 2019; series 1 with archaeologist [Alex Langlands](/source/Alex_Langlands)).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britain-at-low-tide|work=Channel 4|title=Britain at Low Tide|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Channel 4 announces two new commissions featuring Dr Tori Herridge|url=http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-announces-two-new-commissions-featuring-dr-tori-herridge|work=Channel 4|access-date=26 September 2016|date=15 June 2016|archive-date=27 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927145849/http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-announces-two-new-commissions-featuring-dr-tori-herridge|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

In January 2020 she presented ''Bone Detectives: Britain's Buried Secrets'' on Channel 4.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/bone-detectives-britains-buried-secrets|work=Channel 4|title=Bone Detectives: Britain's Buried Secrets|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> She was a guest on the [BBC Radio 4](/source/BBC_Radio_4) programme ''[The Life Scientific](/source/The_Life_Scientific)'' in February 2025.<ref name="Herridge">{{cite web|title=Ancient dwarf elephants and frozen mammoths
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00289nr}}</ref>

In January 2026, she appeared on BBCs [Digging For Britain](/source/Digging_For_Britain) as a co-presenter for the 13th series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/news/dr-tori-herridge-joins-bbc-digging-britain-team|title=Dr Tori Herridge joins BBC Digging for Britain team|date=12 January 2026|work=[The University of Sheffield](/source/The_University_of_Sheffield)}}</ref>

==References==
 {{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://toriherridge.com/}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herridge, Victoria}}
Category:British palaeontologists
Category:British women paleontologists
Category:Living people
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:British television presenters
Category:Alumni of University College London
Category:British women archaeologists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Victoria Herridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Herridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Herridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.