Annual Meeting 2008 - Glasgow: Overview

The meeting is being organized by Prof. Maggie Cusack & Dr Alan Owen of the Department of Geographical & Earth Sciences and Dr Neil Clark of the University’s Hunterian Museum.

Logo

The conference logo shows fossils from three of the famous palaeontological sites in the Glasgow region. Clockwise from bottom left: One of the Lower Carboniferous lycopod stumps from Fossil Grove in the City’s Victoria Park, one of the world’s oldest geoconservation sites and the first to be preserved within a building. A reconstruction of the ‘Bearsden shark’, Akmonistion zangerli Coates & Sequeira, from the topmost Lower Carboniferous lagerstätte to the immediate north of Glasgow. A reconstruction of the largest trilobite known from Scotland (about 22 cm long), the Upper Ordovician cheirurid Hadromeros keisleyensis (Reed) from the Lady Burn Starfish Beds SSSI near Girvan, 90km south west of Glasgow.

Meeting Format

The meeting will commence with a field excursion on Thursday 18 December to explore some of the fossiliferous Carboniferous rocks of the Midland Valley of Scotland. This will be followed by half-day symposium on the afternoon of Friday 19 December entitled “Biominerals – the hard part of palaeontology” and that evening there will be a drinks reception hosted by Glasgow City Council in the City Chambers. The conference proper will commence on Saturday 20 December with a day of talks and posters, the AGM of the Association and the Association’s Annual Address. In the evening there will be a drinks reception in the Hunterian Museum hosted by the Museum and the Geological Society of Glasgow followed by the Annual Dinner in the Bute Hall, the main ceremonial hall of the University. Sunday 21 December will be a full day of talks and a dedicated poster session.

The following link will take you to a map of hotels in which the University Conference Office reserved rooms for the Pal. Ass. Annual Meeting up until 17th October. Booking accommodation in these establishments can no longer be guaranteed, but rooms may still be available. The map includes details of cost and distance from the University.

Accommodation

The following link will take you to a map of hotels in which the University Conference Office reserved rooms for the PalAss. Annual Meeting up until 17th October 2008. Booking accommodation in these establishments can no longer be guaranteed, but rooms may still be available. The map includes details of cost and distance from the University.

PalAss Hotel Booking

Please note that the only hotel that now has single rooms available is Jury's Inn; all the other hotels now have only twin rooms left.

Please click 'make an enquiry' at your hotel of preference to send an e-mail with your requirements to the Conference Office who will then handle the booking. Please be sure to include ‘PalAss’ in the subject of that e-mail. If you are reserving a twin room and both you and the person you are sharing with require a receipt, please ensure that your e-mail to the University Conference Office includes both names.

Rooms in other selected hotels can also be booked through the University Conference Office Hotel Booking Service at:

http://www.cvso.co.uk/services/cvso/accommodation/hotelbookingservice/

In addition to the hotels with which the Conference Office deals, there is a wide range of other establishments in the West End of Glasgow, where the University is situated, and in the city centre which can be booked on-line through other websites. The link below is to a list that includes hostel accommodation in Glasgow:

http://www.hosteltraveler.com/?hostel-in=Glasgow%7CScotland

The following link is to the Scottish Youth Hostel Association, Glasgow.

http://www.syha.org.uk/SYHA/Web/Site/Hostels/Glasgow.asp

Please note that we have no direct knowledge of the standard of any of this budget accommodation.

Travel

The conference will take place at Glasgow University in the west end of this vibrant and friendly city. The symposium, lectures and poster sessions will be held in the Sir Charles Wilson Building near the eastern edge of the University (E15 on the campus map). The Annual Dinner will be in the Bute Hall (A13) preceded by a reception in the Hunterian Museum (A15). The area around the University includes a great variety of places to eat and drink, the botanic gardens and the City Museum & Art Gallery and is a short journey on the Underground from the city centre with its many cultural and gastronomic delights. The city has excellent rail and motorway links to the rest of the UK. The nearby international airports are served by a wide range of carriers, including budget airlines. Glasgow Airport is 7 miles (11 km) from the University and there is an airport bus to the city centre. Prestwick Airport is 22 miles (35 km) away and has a rail connection to the city centre. See the Glasgow University travel information page for more details.

Registration and Costs

Registration and abstract submission are now closed

Dates & Deadlines

Travel Grants

The Palaeontological Association runs a programme of travel grants to assist student members presenting talks and posters at the Annual Meeting. For the Glasgow meeting, grants of up to £100 (or the Euro equivalent) will be available to student presenters who are travelling from outside the UK. The amount payable is dependent on the number of applicants and the distance travelled. Payment of these awards is given as a disbursement at the meeting, not as an advance payment. Students interested in applying for a PalAss travel grant should contact the Executive Officer, Dr Tim Palmer (palass@palass.org) once the organizers have confirmed that their presentation is accepted, and before 8 December 2008. Entitle the E-mail ‘Travel Grant Request’. No awards will be made to those who have not followed this procedure.

Downloads

• Annual Meeting 2008 - Glasgow - First Circular
• Annual Meeting 2008 - Glasgow - Second Circular
• Annual Meeting 2008 - Glasgow - Third Circular
• Annual Meeting 2008 - Glasgow - Programme
• Annual Meeting 2008 - Glasgow - Abstracts

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