Skip to content Skip to navigation

The Annual Address of the Palaeontological Association

The Annual Address is one of the flagship events of the Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association and, unlike other aspects of the meeting, is open to non-delegates. Notable palaeontologists are invited to give the Annual Address, with speakers generally holding mid-level research positions. Speakers are chosen by the Association’s Council. Speakers are invited to talk about a subject of their choice from their own research, noting that the talk is open to interested members of the public as well as career palaeontologists.

Previous Annual Addresses speakers

(Addresses indicated with an asterisk were subsequently published by the Association)

DateSpeakerTitle
12 March 1958O. M. B. BulmanThe sequence of graptolite faunas*
11 March 1959G. RegnellThe Lower Palaeozoic echinoderm faunas of the British Isles and Balto-Scandia*
9 March 1960R. G. S. HudsonTethyan faunas
8 March 1961T. M. HarrisFossil cycads*
7 March 1962E. I. WhiteA review of the habitat of the first chordates
6 March 1963L. R. CoxMolluscan relationships and recent finds
4 March 1964T. N. GeorgeMorphogeny in the spirifers
3 March 1965T. S. WestollProblems of the arthrodiran fishes
2 March 1966M. FlorkinPalaeobiochemistry
1 March 1967A. WilliamsEvolution of shell structure in articulate brachiopods*
6 March 1968M. BlackTaxonomic problems in the study of coccoliths*
5 March 1969P. L. RobinsonProblems in the study of Triassic vertebrates*
4 March 1970W. H. BlowBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic concepts in the Cenozoic Globigerinacea
3 March 1971D. NicholsThe water vascular system in living and fossil echinoderms*
1 March 1972C. DownieThe Palaeozoic acritarchs*
7 March 1973P. C. Sylvester-BradleyOysters and Jurassic shorelines
6 March 1974M. LindströmThe conodont apparatus as a food-gathering mechanism*
5 March 1975W. G. ChalonerThe palaeoclimatic significance of fossil plants
17 March 1976R. J. G. SavageEvolution in carnivorous mammals*
16 March 1977M. J. S. RudwickCharles Lyell's dream of a statistical palaeontology*
8 March 1978E. N. K. ClarksonThe visual system of trilobites*
21 March 1979J. H. CallomonJurassic ammonites in time and space
12 March 1980G. R. CoopeTerrestrial ecosystems of the Upper Pleistocene
18 March 1981P. M. KierRapid evolution in echinoids*
26 February 1982S. J. Gould & C. PattersonPalaeontology, evolution and systematics
10 March 1983A. SeilacherEvolutionary pathways in primary and secondary soft bottom dwellers*
14 March 1984Y. CoppensHominid evolution
28 March 1985B. RunnegarMolecular palaeontology*
19 March 1986D. M. RaupExtinction*
9 March 1987A. J. CharigOrnithischian dinosaurs evaluate cladistic method
14 March 1988J. FranzenThe Eocene lake of Messel and its early horses
15 March 1989D. EdwardsPioneering plants
14 March 1990P. WestbroekEmiliana huxleyi as a model organism for evaluating the sciences of life and earth
13 March 1991D. E. G. Briggs & S. Conway MorrisThe Burgess Shale: new vistas on the history of life
11 March 1992A. H. KnollThe basis of inference about Precambrian evolution
18 March 1993A. B. SmithMolecular and palaeontological perspectives on echinoderm evolution
23 March 1994B. SellwoodMesozoic palaeoclimate: evaluating General Circulation Model predictions against geological evidence
15 March 1995P. JanvierThe dawn of vertebrates. Character versus common ascent in the rise of current vertebrate phylogenies*
13 March 1996R. McNeill AlexanderAll-time giants*
12 March 1997J. R. CannHydrothermal vent communities from the origin of life to the present day
18 March 1998C. E. BrettEvolutionary ecology of mid-Palaeozoic marine faunas
12 May 1999P. R. CranePalaeontological evidence for the early evolution of flowers
10 May 2000D. WalossekExceptional preservation of Cambrian 'Orsten' type fossils
2 May 2001R. A. ForteyDeducing life habits of trilobites: science or scenario?
8 May 2002H. TorrensThe life and work of S.S. Buckman (1860-1929) geobiochronologist and the problems of assessing the work of past palaeontologists.
15 December 2003M. J. BentonPalaeontology and the future of life on Earth.
18 December 2004S. BengstonPalaeontologia de profundis
19 December 2005J. KennedyWilliam Buckland and the rise of palaeoecology
19 December 2006A. BoucotWhat should go into a systematic description
18 December 2007A. ListerEvolution in an Ice Age
20 December 2008J. ClackThe emergence of tetrapods: how far have we come in the last twenty years and where can we go in the next?
14 December 2009L. WitmerDigital dinosaurs
18 December 2010A. GaleAncient origin of the deep sea fauna: evidence from the fossil record
18 December 2011P. N. PearsonClimate and evolution in Cenozoic oceans
16 December 2012C. StringerNew views on the origins of our species
13 December 2013M. CoatesSharks and the deep origin of modern jawed vertebrates
17 December 2014A.M. HaywoodUnderstanding ancient Earth climates and environments using models and data
15 December 2015J. R. HutchinsonComputer modelling and simulation of extinct organisms: its utility and limitations for reconstructing the evolution of locomotor behaviour
15 December 2016M. GouyMolecular thermometers: ancestral sequence reconstruction uncovers the history of adaptation to environmental temperature along the tree of life
18 December 2017M. A. Purnell101 uses for a dead fish. Experimental decay, exceptional preservation, and fossils of soft bodied organisms
16 December 2018J. E. FrancisIce in a greenhouse world - 60Ma and 2060
19 December 2019M. E. McNamaraNot just skin deep: probing the secrets of fossil melanin using taphonomic experiments and analytical chemistry
17 December 2020R. A. WoodTales from the Cambrian Explosion
19 December 2021E. J. RayfieldDecoding the evolution of form and function in the fossil record: why are animals shaped the way they are?
21 July 2022D. N. SchmidtWhat - if anything - can palaeontology contribute to understanding our climate crisis
13 September 2023G. E. EdgecombeFossils, molecules and arthropods
PalAss Go! URL: http://go.palass.org/mem | Twitter: Share on Twitter | Facebook: Share on Facebook | Google+: Share on Google+