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Meeting Reports

Conservation & Stratigraphic Palaeobiology: Deep-time to Recent European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria 14 April 2015

This Symposium brought together palaeontologists and marine biologists interested in exchanging new concepts and ideas in the fields of stratigraphic palaeobiology and conservation palaeobiology, with contributions on taphonomy, palaeobiogeography and macroevolution.  It was organized by a cohort of European palaeobiologists, including James Nebelsick (University of Tübingen, Germany), Paolo Albano and Martin Zuschin (University of Vienna, Austria), Adam Tomašových (Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia), Wolfgang Kiessling (University of Erlangen, Germany), Andrzej Kaim (Polish Academy of S

5th Polar Marine Diatom Workshop University of Salamanca, Spain 19–24 July 2015

The 5th Polar Marine Diatom Workshop (PMDW) was hosted by María Angelas Bárcena and hosted 46 participants from 15 nations.  The Workshop included the presentation and discussion of ideas and issues in taxonomy, terminology and identification.  Collaboration in this series of workshops is pivotal in shaping the direction of future research in the field.  While many PMDW attendants are specialists, this community is also focused on increasing student attendance through incentives such as travel grants.  These are in addition to the inherent incentives of receiving training and advice from le

SVPCA - National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK 29 August–4 September 2015

The annual Symposium for Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy was held in Southampton this year, a city with a thriving harbour, excellent university and world-leading (and very welcoming) Vertebrate Palaeontology Group.  The reception and conference took place at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC).  This modern, airy building is one of the largest bases for marine science, deep-sea research and technological development in the UK.  Thanks to the Jones-Fenleigh Memorial Fund, I was able to attend SVPCA to present my own work, as well as to find out about the latest research

Yorkshire Fossil Festival Scarborough, UK 18 – 20 September 2015

Following the ongoing success of the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival in recent years, September 2014 saw the first appearance of an equivalent in the north of England: the Yorkshire Fossil Festival, held at the historic Rotunda Museum in Scarborough.  Organised by the Scarborough Museums Trust in conjunction with the Palaeontological Association, the event is designed to run along similar lines to its older cousin on the south coast, bringing geology and palaeontology to the masses through a wide range of outreach activities run by different fossil-loving organizations.  For the second running o

59th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, UK, 14-17 December 2015

The 59th Annual Meeting was held in Cardiff, the Welsh capital providing an excellent setting for the Meeting which, as usual, was a highlight in the PalAss calendar.  The infectious enthusiasm of each speaker, combined with the vast diversity of research presented, made this both an extremely enjoyable and a highly informative conference.  For those who wanted to get stuck-in early, this year delegates were given the opportunity to attend a pre-meeting workshop – a training course on the SPIERS software suite run by Russell Garwood, Mark Sutton and Imran Rahman.  Funded by the Software Sus

2015 GSA Annual Meeting Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, USA, 1-4 November 2015

The Geological Society of America’s (GSA) 2015 Annual Meeting was an international meeting bringing together professionals, students, teachers and affiliates from 58 countries to communicate their research in geology.  With over 7,400 geologists walking through the doors, the variety of sessions was unrivalled, with 342 technical sessions taking place during the Conference.  Palaeontologists were in for a treat this year, with over 25 technical sessions and 20 poster sessions, addressing many new and varied strands of palaeontological research.  How biotic fauna has evolved over geological

The Rise of Animal Life: Cambrian and Ordovician biodiversification events Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco, 5–10 October 2015

The Rise of Animal Life Conference brought together international researchers working on the early diversification of animal life, with a symposium bringing focus to promoting geological heritage.  The Conference was organized by the Cadi Ayyad University, and hosted in the magnificent Palais des Congrès in Marrakech.  As a newcomer to the city, it was a stunning and inspiring location for an event.  The coordinator Khadija El Hariri and her organising team deserve commendation for putting on such an interesting and diverse conference in wonderful surroundings.

'Fossillegal': a symposium on ethics in palaeontology

The recent European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP) 14th annual meeting, held in Haarlem in the Netherlands at the start of July (see Meeting Reports) continued the recent surge in attendance and abstracts for EAVP with record levels of each.  In the evocative 18th century Teylers Museum setting an unusually wide range of symposia were presented, from island vertebrate palaeontology to early tetrapods, and the North Sea basin to hominids.  There was also the ‘FossilLegal’ symposium, focusing on ethical palaeontological practices for a wide range of stakeholders.

62nd Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association - 14–17 December 2018

The 2018 Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting was held in Bristol, a university and city which hold a special place in the heart of many Association members.  Following morning workshops showing attendees how to use the computer programs RevBayes and Avizo, the meeting began in earnest with the Symposium, held in the beautiful Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building.  The Symposium showcased recent work in dinosaur palaeobiology, and for the first time, the final three talks were open to members of the public.

1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress - 1–15 December 2018

The 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress was conceived as a typical palaeontological congress but in a completely virtual environment, where researchers from all over the globe could share their work without having the costs usually associated with a conference.  The simplicity and efficiency of this new format gave rise to low-cost registration fees and allowed researchers to participate from groups with limited funds and/or developing countries.

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