Meet the people behind fern foss
Founder and Owner
Cheryl Wilson
I moved to Amelia Island in 2018 during the #MeToo movement and began taking long walks on the beach to clear my head. I began finding beautiful scallop shells which seemed like gifts of hope from the Island. As my career was in academic research, I naturally began investigating them but could not find them in any shell reference books. The JAX shell club said they were fossils, but the Florida Museum of Natural History’s fossil database listed only fossilized shark’s teeth being found on Amelia Island. I reached out to university and museum paleontologists, and by 2022 I confirmed that my collected scallop fossils were 5+ million-year-old “pectens.”
Helping identify fossils for others in the local fossil community led to establishing Fernandina Fossils in 2022 and providing reference materials for pectens, shark teeth, and megafauna fossils. In 2024 we converted our 1891 historic home into a fossil information center in order to connect with other members of the fossil community, exhibit fossils, and educate the public.
Amelia Island is a haven for fossil hunters and the response to Fernandina Fossils’ resources has been tremendous, with beach-goers regularly visiting to identify and show off their finds. Many locals have generously donated specimens for display, making the exhibits a community collection; accordingly, I added “& Co” to the Fernandina Fossils name. In 2024 we donated 150 pectens to Florida Museum of Natural History’s permanent collection. Amelia Island is now credited with producing these beautiful fossils, and Fernandina Fossils & Co. has built a reputation among residents and visitors as the place to go for fossil resources and museum-quality exhibits.
Team
The Fern Foss team
It takes a community -- and Amelia Island's fossil community is incredibly generous!
Fern Foss would not be open without the assistance of some incredible people who come in and help with IDs, classes, the gift shop, kid's activities, events, eco-tours, education, maintenance of the 1891 building, and everything else:
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Cheryl Wilson, Founder & Pecten Queen
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Herb Fergusen, Advisor
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Jane Baker, Gift Shop Curator
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Kali Copeland, Kid's Activities & Art
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Pete Fuller, Advisor
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Reanna Boudrow, Education & IDs
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Steve Sharpe, Scientific Advisor
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Steven Corgan, ID Specialist & Eco-tours
Special thanks to Reanna Boudrow, Susan Rutan, Mallory Ghazni, Megan McKendree of HART fame, Amelia Island Julz & Cris McComas who rolled up their sleeves and made the Fern Foss a reality when it was still a dream in Cheryl's head; all of the artists who create & sell beautiful products in our shop; and all the members of the community who have so generously donated your time, fossils, expertise and support.