Despina Kyriakoudi

QRA Postgraduate Symposium 2024

WALDO’s PhD students participated in the QRA postgraduate symposium 2024, which was held between August 29 and 31 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Co-hosted by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, this conference included postgraduate talks and a poster session by early career Quaternary researchers. The students had the opportunity to have a workshop on age-depth modelling using radiocarbon dates, a guided tour of the 14Chrono Centre, interact with experts in the field, and a field trip dedicated to the Quaternary records present within the Irish landscape.

Keynote speakers:

1) From the Quaternary to defective concrete: a career journey in the geosciences

Prof. Paul Dunlop (Research Director for the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University).

2) Only time will tell: the importance of chronology in Quaternary Science

Prof. Gill Plunkett (Professor in the School of Natural and Built Environment, Culture and Society, Queen’s University Belfast).

Workshop:

Presentation and workshop on Age-depth modelling using Bayesian statistics

Prof. Maarten Blaauw (School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast).

Field trip:

A) Lough Beg Lake at Newferry and Dead Island Bog SAC

Prof. Helen Roe (Professor in the School of Natural and Built Environment, Culture and Society, Queen’s University Belfast) and David Hatton (PhD researcher).

B) Giant’s Causeway – World Heritage Site

Prof. Andrew Cooper (Professor of Coastal Studies, School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University).

Photo gallery – 14th International School on Foraminifera

WALDO’s PhD researcher participated in the International School on Foraminifera in Urbino (Italy). The course was held between 5-24 of June 2023 and it was mainly intended for early career researchers and industrial personnel working with Foraminifera, Micropalaeontology, Paleoceanography, Paleoecology, and Climate History. The training consisted of the following modules: (1) Introduction to the Foraminifera, (2) smaller benthic foraminifera, (3) larger benthic foraminifera, and (4) planktonic foraminifera. The course was taught by internationally recognised lectures, with approx. 60 hours of lectures, 60 hours of practical and an one-day field trip focusing on the classic micropaleontological localities near Gubbio!

INQUA 2023 Congress

Poster presentation – Session 69: Quaternary palaeolandscape, palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental change in the North Sea.

Conference programme available here: Conference sessions – INQUA 2023 (inquaroma2023.org)

Participation in the International School on Foraminifera 2023

The International School on Foraminifera (ISF) has officially started this week!

Lectures and practical exercises are taking place in the Collegio Internazionale – University of Urbino, in the historic city of Urbino (Italy) between 5^th and 24^th June 2023.

As a leading training school focused on studying foraminifera, it aims to provide an overview of the Taxonomy, Ecology, Biodiversity, and Geological History of Benthic and Planktonic Foraminifera. The course consists of four modules: Introduction to the Foraminifera, smaller benthic foraminifera, larger benthic foraminifera, and planktonic foraminifera.

In the following three weeks, WALDO’s PhD student will be participating in this program to specialise in this sector, by getting more knowledge about (paleo)environmental and (paleo)oceanographical indicators and proxies.

The teaching staff consists of various experts in the field, many of whom are professors and/or active researchers with remarkable awards for their research and teaching achievements.

A big thanks to Prof. Fabrizio Frontalini, Prof. Michael A. Kaminski, and Dr. Claudia Cetean for the great introduction today!