Future Meeting: Climatic and Biotic Events of the Paleogene

he Paleogene Period was a time of extremes and transitions. Bounded by the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous and the rise of modern grasslands, the climate of the Paleogene was globally much warmer than today’s, yet continents and ocean basins had nearly modern configurations and supported biotic communities and biogeochemical regimes of broadly familiar types. The causes, dynamics and functioning of the Paleogene Earth-Life System are being studied by an international and highly interdisciplinary group of scientists including paleontologists, geologists, geochemists, paleoceanographers, climate scientists, and ecologists, among others. This community is united by its curiosity about the Paleogene Earth and what its history can tell us about our future.
We invite scientists worldwide to attend the 13th Climatic and Biotic Events of the Paleogene conference to be held August 2-8, 2026 at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. CBEP2026 is co-hosted by NMNH and the U.S. Geological Survey. Together we will share recent advances in our knowledge of the Paleogene and the immediately preceding and following Late Cretaceous and Miocene, centering on these thematic areas:

Climate States and Processes
Stratigraphy and Surface Processes
Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems
Biogeochemical Cycles