Books available for review announcement

The following volumes are available to Paleontological Society members in exchange for writing a review in Priscum. Reviews should be informative, engaging, and 400–800 words long. The tone can be informal and casual, appropriate to recommending a book to colleagues. Reviews are expected to be returned within six months after receipt. Past book reviews can be found in past issues of Priscum at https://www.paleosoc.org/priscum-newsletter and https://www.paleosoc.org/blog. Reviewers must be a current member of the Paleontological Society before beginning review. If you are interested in reviewing one of these texts, please contact Book Reviews Editor Phil Novack-Gottshall.

The Paleontological Society is now soliciting for nominations for the inaugural DEEP Award!  

The Paleontological Society is soliciting applications for a Student Representative to Council. 

Eligibility: We encourage applications from paleontology graduate students who are early-mid stage in their graduate programs from all backgrounds and institutions, particularly those that have historically been under-represented on the Paleontological Society Council.

The Role: Student Representatives serve as voices for student needs in the Society and play leading roles in student activities including organizing student events at the annual Geological Society of America conference. Student Representatives are further encouraged to develop and lead new student initiatives. In this role, students gain knowledge of the inner workings of an international organization and experience in professional service.

The selected Student Representative (who will start their role in the fall of 2023) will join current Student Representative Sam Ocon and serve a two-year term (Fall 2023–Fall 2025). Student Representatives attend two virtual Council meetings per year (one during fall and the other during spring).

Application Requirements:

Please fill out the google form and provide each question with long-answer responses (at least one paragraph per question) to be considered for this position.

We are delighted to announce the newest Paleontological Society Fellows:  Annalisa Berta (San Diego State University), Carlos Jaramillo (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), Johnny Waters (University of West Georgia and Appalachian State University), and Lisa White (UC Museum of Paleontology). 

Annalisa Berta (San Diego State University) is recognized for her numerous wide-ranging and impactful contributions to our understanding of marine mammals, including their anatomy, physiology, ontogeny, sensory biology, phylogenetics, and evolutionary history; for her outstanding record of teaching and mentorship; and for her extensive service to the profession, including her pioneering efforts promoting the work of women in paleontology most notably through her book Rebels, Scholars, Explorers: Women in Vertebrate Paleontology.

The Paleontological Society recognizes the importance of educational and research practices that foster diversity and inclusion. We value the contribution of diverse opinions, strategies, and experiences at the sessions, short courses, and workshops that we sponsor at meetings of the Geological Society of America and the North American Paleontological Convention and other conferences (such as SACNAS and NABG) as they are an integral part to the advancement of our field. However, many of our colleagues who work extensively on inclusive educational and research practices might not qualify for research-based funding for conference travel from their home institutions. In addition, colleagues from groups underrepresented in paleontology, in a career transition (between undergrad and grad, grad to post-doc, post-doc to position), or in adjunct, teaching, museum, or part-time positions are often the most vulnerable and most likely to leave paleontology and science. It is crucial that we ensure that these members are able to attend and participate in our meetings as well as network with community members who can provide the support and mentorship that is needed in these critical transitions or positions. Thus, the Paleontological Society is offering competitive conference travel grants to help offset the expenses PS members from underrepresented and/or at-risk groups who would be unable to attend these meetings without travel support.

Funding Amount
$1200 per award for in person attendees and $250 per award for online attendees

There are 20+ Topical & 8 Discipline Sessions at GSA Connects 2022 that are endorsed by the Paleo Society! 

T102. Comings and Goings of Proterozoic Global Glaciations - (Posters Sunday a.m.)
Leaders: Bing Shen; Maoyan Zhu; and Xianguo Lang
Endorsers: Geochemical Society; GSA Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division; Paleontological Society
Description: This session focuses on global glaciations and geology-geobiology in the Proterozoic.

Ecological Models Applied to Fossil Data

When: Saturday, October 8^th from 8am to 5pm.
Where: Denver, CO Convention Center 
Who:  Everyone interested in learning about how to use and understand niche modeling methods for paleontological datasets. 
Registration: Not required, Free to everyone!
Instructors: Cori Myers, Alycia Stigall, Erin Saupe, Marlon Cobos, Jenny McGuire, Hannah Owens

The Paleontological Society Journals are seeking two Editorial Interns to attend the 2022 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting and assist our editorial boards in recruiting new paper submissions. Interns will get an inside look at academic publishing and assist Journal of Paleontology and Paleobiology in diversifying our content and our authorship. Each intern will receive a $2000 stipend to cover the costs of attending the 2022 GSA Annual Meeting. 

Program Description
Prior to the GSA meeting, and with guidance from the editorial boards for Paleobiology and Journal of Paleontology, interns will scan abstracts for presentations that fit within the scope of the two journals, have the potential to be high impact, and are written by students and early career scientists. Interns will then attend presentations and write up short summaries of promising submissions for each editorial board. Journal editors can then contact presenters and encourage them to submit to the appropriate journal.

The Paleontological Society has entered into agreements with two services to facilitate the reporting of alleged violations to our Code of Conduct. These go under the names of NAVEX and Vault.

Both services have secure web-based portals that are now accessible from the PS website. Instructions on how to access and use these platforms can be found here.

The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark 1972 paper by Niles Eldredge and Stephen J. Gould that introduced the concept of punctuated equilibrium to the fields of paleontology and evolutionary biology.

In honor of this anniversary, I am conducting a survey-based study to better understand how people define the concept of punctuated equilibrium and to what extent they use it in their research and teaching.

The Paleontological Society is pleased to announce the fourth annual “Future Leaders in Paleontology” topical session at the 2022 GSA Annual Meeting. The goal of the session is to showcase the outstanding work of our student members in a high-profile setting. The Society will limit the number of paleontological sessions running concurrently with this special session, in order to have a prominent platform for our student members.

The Society invites all of its student members and recent graduates receiving a degree within the last year, particularly those nearing completion of their projects, to submit an abstract to GSA and fill out this Google Form. The session will bring together all types of paleontological research, spanning the full range of taxonomic groups, methods, and disciplines within our field. While advisors and other study participants are permitted to be co-authors on the presentation, the work must primarily reflect intellectual contributions of the student submitting the abstract.

The Karl-Armin Tröger Memorial Inoceramid Workshop (supported in part by the Paleontological Society) will be held this year in Warsaw, Poland during the 11th International Cretaceous Symposium (August 22-26, 2022). Inoceramids are an extinct family of marine pteriomorph bivalves which ranged from the Early Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. While inoceramid bivalves are a powerful and increasingly used tool in Cretaceous biostratigraphy and paleoecology, their underlying systematic hierarchy, phylogenies and macroevolutionary trends have proven difficult to define and standardize.  

The Palaeontological Association's Annual Meeting: Cork, Ireland (July 18-24, 2022)

The Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association will be held at University College Cork (UCC). The meeting will consist of various events targeted at the general public on Monday 18th July and an early career researcher event on Tuesday 19th July. Workshops, laboratory tours and the symposium will take place on Wednesday the 20th of July, followed by the core scientific sessions (July 21 & 22). There will be a two-day post-conference fieldtrip on (July 23 & 24). 

The Paleontological Society International Research Program, or PalSIRP, is the Paleontological Society’s answer to disparities in funding for basic research in low- and middle-income countries around the world. While the program has expanded in important ways over the past two and a half decades, it has the potential to do more to address global inequities in the funding of paleontological research. Please read on for a description of this vital initiative and, if you are interested in supporting its goals, you can donate at: https://www.paleosoc.org/donate and choose PalSIRP Sepkoski Grants. 

PalSIRP was established in 1994 through the efforts of J. John (Jack) Sepkoski, Jr., after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union and demise of the Warsaw Pact saw funding support for paleontological research in those countries all but vanish. As originally conceived, PalSIRP was a small grants program ($500 in most cases) for paleontologists living in Eastern Europe and republics of the former Soviet Union. Seed money for PalSIRP came from internal Society resources. 

Due: 5 PM (Pacific time zone), Friday March 4, 2022

Paleontological Society funds are available to support meetings or sessions organized by society members. Our first priority is to provide up to US$1000 to support stand-alone meetings, where your group is organizing the entire conference. If additional funds are available, we can also support speakers at individual sessions within larger meetings. If you are organizing a topical session within a larger meeting, we can provide US$400 per invited speaker for up to two presenters.

The Paleontological Society has a Code of Conduct that applies to society events and members, including at meetings sponsored by the society. Anyone witnessing prohibited behavior should file an allegation report with the ethics committee. We also encourage conference organizers to take proactive steps to create an inclusive meeting; many specific actions are described here.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Mary Droser has received the National Academy of Sciences Charles D. Walcott Medal for her studies of early animal evolution and ecology. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Droser, a Paleontological Society member who has contributed greatly to the Paleontological Society through her numerous service activities, and to the discipline of paleontology through her teaching, mentorship of students, and exemplary good will. 

Please consider nominating one of your colleagues for Paleontological Society Fellow. Any PS member can nominate, though the nomination letter needs support from at least one PS Fellow. The deadline for nominations is February 28th. Click here for more information.

Note that the nomination process has changed. Multiple letters in support of a nominee will no longer be accepted; rather, nominators should submit a single, integrated letter, no more than three pages long, signed by at least two and no more than three PS members, at least one of whom must be an active Fellow.

The Paleontological Society is soliciting nominations for the 2022–2024 Student Representative! The new representative will serve a two-year term that overlaps with our current Student Rep Jood Al Aswad.

What do the Student Representatives do?
Student Representatives serve as voices for student needs in the Society and play leading roles in student activities including organizing student events at the Geological Society of America Conference. Student Representatives are further encouraged to develop and lead new student initiatives. In this role, students gain knowledge of the inner-workings of an international organization and experience in professional service.

Congratulations to our 2021 slate of distinguished Paleontology Society Fellows!