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10th CAVEPS and Quaternary Extinction Symposium
March 29 - April 2, 2005
Naracoorte, SA, Australia

CANQUA June 5-8, 2005
NOTICE: The server to the Winnipeg CANQUA abstract submission site has been periodically down for the past day or so. Please try again if you've been rebuffed; the format and address can be found on the meeting web site <http:www.umanitoba.ca/canqua>. We are extending the deadline until next week.

2^nd International Congress
“The World of Elephants”
Hot Springs, South Dakota, USA September 22-25,  2005

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CAPE‹Circum-Arctic Paleoenvironments

The role and aims of CAPE Prediction of future environmental change is one of the greatest challenges to humankind, a challenge that must be met by the scientific community. Although the issue of environmental change is global in nature, the study of particularly sensitive areas may provide insights into changes of the Earth's environment as a whole. Covering only a modest fraction of the planet, the Arctic includes many of the most sensitive elements of the planetary system likely to change in the coming decades to centuries. These changes within the Arctic may, via strong feedbacks, lead to large impacts outside the Arctic region.
To better understand the role of the Arctic in the global climate system necessitates a circum-Arctic approach. CAPE (Circum-Arctic PaleoEnvironments), an IGBP-PAGES organization, provides the vehicle through which regionally focused national and international Arctic paleo-programs can be linked. CAPE has circum-Arctic syntheses as its primary mission, emphasizing integration of paleoenvironmental research on terrestrial environments and the adjacent continental shelf covering the last 250,000 years of Earth history. In addition to facilitating hemispheric syntheses, CAPE serves as a bridge between the paleoenvironmental and modeling communities.

CAPE's focus on the Holocene The first task of CAPE is to compile environmental changes in the Arctic during the Holocene at 1 ka intervals. To this end 12 regional working groups covering specific sections of the Arctic, are being established. The goal is to compile paleoenvironmental records for each section and to evaluate these records to produce regional paleoenvironmental reconstructions. A final exercise will compare the data synthesis results to GCM model output.

Strategy A wide range of terrestrial and marine proxies exist for the Holocene as continuous times series. Our approach is to first characterize the Earth's surface at 1 ka time slices for the Holocene. On land this will be primarily based on paleovegetation data (pollen and macrofossils) interpreted in terms of a limited number of vegetation types. Additional surface characteristics will include the distribution of lakes and glacier ice, while the key marine characteristics are sea ice distribution and water mass type (e.g. Polar versus Atlantic/Pacific).
In April 1997 the compilers will meet in Lammi, Finland to review and compile their results. The compilers will bring all primary site data used in their synthesis to resolve inconsistencies between regional interpretations, and for inclusion in the PAGES data archive. Once any problems are resolved, the group will develop a circum-Arctic synthesis.
Gifford Miller
University of Colorado

GAGE working group
The GAGE work group of the INQUA Commission on Glaciation is preparing a proposal for the Landsat 7 archive program. We have been asked to submit glaciers from around the world (except the U.S.A. and Antarctica) for consideration in the archive. A preliminary proposal is now available at: www.emporia. edu/S/www/earthsci/gage/glacier7.html All Quaternary scientists are invited to comment and suggest additional glaciers to include with the proposal. The complete proposal will be delivered to NASA in Jan. '97. Contact: James S. Aber; aberjame@esumail.emporia.edu

Research Grants
for Isotopic Analyses
Geochron Laboratories, a division of Krueger Enterprises, Inc., annually awards research grants to graduate students requiring interesting or new applications of isotopic analyses. The awards consist of analytical services to be performed free of charge to the winner in each category. For the past several years awards have been offered in K-Ar dating, C-14 dating, and stable isotope ratio analyses (SIRA), SIRA in dietary studies, and SIRA of fluid inclusions in minerals. The awards are offered by Geochron Labs to encourage the application of isotopic analytical techniques to solve original and significant problems. The application deadline is May 1, 1997. Early application is suggested. For Research Award Program Guidelines and official rules, call 617-876-3691; fax: 661-0148 or write 711 Concord Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138.

DRI's Jonathan
Davis Scholarship
The Quaternary Sciences Center of the Desert Research Institute awarded the 1996 scholarship to David O. Wilkins, University of Utah; Ronald R. Currey is his advisor. David's research is "Late Quaternary Paleoenvironments in the Trans-Pecos Closed Basin, West Texas and South-Central New Mexico." Saxon Sharpe, University of Nevada, was also awarded a stipend for "Late Quaternary Mollusks: Developing the Paleohydrology Link."
This memorial scholarship was established by family and friends of Jonathan, a geologist and geoarchaelogist. This annual $1000 (or more) scholarship supports the field research of a graduate student working on the Quaternary geology of the Great Basin or surrounding areas. The scholarship, administered by the Quaternary Sciences Center of the Desert Research Institute, is open to graduate students enrolled in a M.S. or Ph.D. program at any U.S. University.
Applications for 1997 should include: (1) a current resume or vita, (2) a two page (single-spaced) description of the thesis/dissertation research which clearly documents the geologic orientation and research significance, and (3) a letter of recommendation from the thesis/ dissertation supervisor that emphasizes the student's research ability and potential as a Quaternary scientist. Applications must be received by February 1, 1997, so

the scholarship can be used in the following summer. Send applications to:
Executive Director, Quaternary Sciences Center, Desert Research Institute, PO Box 60220, Reno NV 89506. If you wish to help the endowment grow, contributions can be sent to the above address. Checks should be made out to the Board of Regents-DRI. Please indicate that the donation is for the Jonathan O. Davis Scholarship Fund.