Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Thursday 17th December at 16.30 GMT. The AGM will include the announcement of the newly-elected Council members and the presentation of this year's Association medals and awards. All members are strongly encouraged to attend the AGM and should see recent e-mails for details of how to join.
Annual Address
The Annual Address will be given on Thursday 17th December at 19.00 GMT.
Tales from the Cambrian Explosion
University of Edinburgh, UK
The Cambrian Explosion marks the rise of diverse animal groups ca. 540 million years ago, but the triggers for this revolution remain poorly understood. I will explore the differing roles of changing climate, oceanic redox, nutrient availability and ecosystem feedbacks across the critical Ediacaran-Cambrian transitional period. The fossil record now reveals that the roots of the Cambrian Explosion are to be found in the Ediacaran. We can now document a series of pulses of enhanced seawater oxygen availability over the Ediacaran to Cambrian interval. These coincide with pulses of diversification and increased body size in animals, but the biological control of carbonate production was driven by ecosystem feedbacks including the rise of predation.
The Annual Address, taking place online this year, is open to all - beginners and experts are welcome. Conference delegates have already been assigned a place. Everyone else can sign up for free here: https://event.webinarjam.com/register/127/8vv85f2w