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Upcoming Meetings:

 Student Travel Grants Available

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

Special Report:
    Vision for Geomorphology &
    Quaternary Science

The Quaternary Times
    Current Newsletter
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Ask an AMQUA Expert

Directory of Quaternary Scientists

Friends of the Pleistocene

2005 Northeastern Friends of the Pleistocene meeting

Quaternary-Related Journal Discounts

Quaternary Job Opportunities

Quaternary-Related Abstracts

Quaternary-Related Links

Society of American Archaeology Fellowship Announcement

Search the AMQUA Site

Announcements

A Geoarchaeology Interest Group
has been formally established within the Society for American Archaeology. Rolfe Mandel was elected chair of the Interest Group at the 1997 annual meeting of the SAA in Nashville. The Interest Group will sponsor symposia and field trips at the annual SAA meetings, and will provide a wide range of services to graduate students who are interested in geoarchaeology. Also, a newsletter will be published once per year. Contact: Rolfe Mandel, Dept. of Geography, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 2121; 913-228-0571; mandel@falcon.cc. ukans.edu

The Canadian Geomorphology Research Group
"Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology". The bibliography contains over 4000 entries and can be searched over the internet using the CGRG search engine. While many aspects of Canadian geomorphology are included, a substantial proportion of the entries relate to the Quaternary geomorphology of Canada. To search the bibliography, start at the CGRG home page address and go the "Bibliography" chapter: geography.geog. uvic.ca/dept/cgrg/cgrg
Authors are invited to submit citations of their publications for inclusion in the bibliography. Forward these, with an abstract if possible, to Dan Smith, Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 3P5; 250-721-7328; fax: -6216; dsmith@office.geog.uvic.ca

The North American Pollen Database (NAPD)
is a repository for Quaternary pollen data and related metadata. Entry of a large backlog of data is approaching completion and in anticipation of that time we are sending out a request for new data. NAPD is a public database available from the World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology sponsored by the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program and housed at the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colorado. NAPD is, in fact, a subset of the Global Pollen Database, housed at NGDC. The complete relational database as well as various ASCII and spreadsheet files for individual sites are available from the NGDC Web site. As an incentive to contributors, we have conducted an inventory that identifies over 2000 potential sites for inclusion in NAPD. At present, over 600 of these sites are already archived. The "Unacquired Sites Inventory" is a listing of sites that NAPD would like to acquire. This inventory is available in a MapPad file. MapPad displays site locations and associated publications. You can obtain the MapPad file and program from our Web site: www.museum.state.il.us/ research/napd/mainmenu
NAPD includes a list of workers who have contributed data or are referenced bibliographically. In order to maintain a current list of e-mail addresses, postal addresses, and position titles, we additionally request that you return a short note to us containing your name, address, position, and e-mail address. We strongly encourage you to inform us of corrections or omissions to the site inventory, and, please, contribute your valuable data. For corrections, contributions, or just for fun, contact, Stephen Porter (napd@museum.state. il.us) or Eric Grimm (grimm@museum. state.il.us).

 Alaska Dirt
Scratcher's Newsletter
Are you interested in learning what other Quaternary researchers are doing in Alaska? And sharing your Alaskan research with us? Subscribe to the Alaska Dirt Scratcher's Newsletter (it's free!). The Dirt Scratcher's is an informal, biannual, volunteer effort to keep one another informed about current and future Quaternary-related research in Alaska. For more information or copies of our Spring 1997 newsletter contact Lyn Gualtieri (gualtier@geo.umass.edu) or Julie Brigham-Grette (brigham grette@ geo.umass. edu).

 
Interdisciplinary Research Training
in ecology, geology, archaeology, geography, and soils at the University of Minnesota offers the following training opportunities in "Paleorecords of Global Change". Only citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the U.S. qualify for stipends. For application contact: Barbara Eastwold, RTG, U of Minnesota, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108; 612-624-4238; fax: -6777; eastwold@ecology.umn.edu. An equal opportunity educator and employer.

Graduate Traineeship: 4-year traineeships for graduate study. Application deadline January 2.

 Traveling Fellowship: Graduate students are invited to Minnesota for up to 3 months graduate study. Stipend, travel and living allowance, and tuition provided. Application deadlines are April 1 (for travel July 1 - December 31) and October 1 (for travel January 1 - June 30).

Teaching Archaeometry
This new web site is available at: www.grad.uiuc.edu/departments/ATAM /teach-arch The purpose of the site is to provide resources for the teaching of archaeometry/archaeological science. It includes background on the field, course syllabi from several universities, a "Forum" for postings on curriculum and training issues, and other web links. Feedback is welcome at wisarc@uiuc.edu

 
Basin and Range
Field Camp
June 23 - July 20, 1997
Setting: The Basin & Range region of the western United States is characterized by diverse and unique geography. This is especially true of the northern Nevada portion of the Basin & Range where towering, humid mountains give way to arid basins‹all in a mid-latitude, high elevation, continental, sparsely populated setting dominated by public lands

Course Description: We will focus on the northern Nevada portion of the Basin & Range where students will be immersed in the geography of a mountain range and a nearby, contrasting basin. Students will work individually and in groups on such topics as: (1) physical geography--especially paleolake, eolian, and glacial geomorphology, soil genesis, and climate/environment interactions, all within the context of recent and paleo environmental change; (2) cultural historical geography--Native American occupance, landscapes of pioneer exploration and settlement, and contemporary land use patterns; and (3) resource geography--grazing, water, and mining, along with concepts of ecosystem management and public/private resource use. Participants, via intensive field research, will gain valuable field observation, airphoto and topographic map interpretation, data collection, and mapping skills. Participants will ultimately complete an in-depth field research project and present it to the group. En route to, during, and following, our in-depth field research we will explore various physical, human, and resource geography issues in the arid west.

Course and Credits: Geog 493‹Field Experience (10 quarter credits).

Class Size: 24 students maximum.

 Cost: $1000 (est.) includes undergraduate tuition and transportation. Add $350 for graduate credit. Plan on an additional ~$30/wk for food.

 Contact/Apply: Karl Lillquist /Robert Kuhlken / Damon Roberts, Geography and Land Studies Department / Resource Management Program, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926; 509-963-1188; lillquis@cwu.edu / kuhlkenr@cwu.edu / robertsd@aurora. cwu.edu

 Ohana Productions
Reporting the knowledge gained from large scientific projects currently suffers from two failings: First, paper publications on large scientific projects inevitably offer no more than a summary of the scientific results. They cannot include all of the data and background documents a reader would like to have to evaluate the conclusions that are drawn. Furthermore, authors of project reports must often make agonizing compromises and decisions concerning graphical material and data sets. Secondly, large, multidisciplinary scientific projects are costly. More and more, in these times of funding cutbacks, they need to be explained in clear language to the ultimate funders‹the taxpayer. Such explanations usually take the form of articles in popular magazines and normally contain only a few references to primary sources. Never is it possible for the layperson, who becomes curious about the scientific results, to move easily to a view of the research reports and background material that form the underpinnings of the research.
John Matthews, recently retired from the Geological Survey of Canada, has long been interested in solutions to these two problems. At present his answer is the production of multimedia CDs, which contain areas for both layperson and specialist as well as numerous background documents and all data associated with the project. The layperson will often view only the section providing a very general and graphic explanation of the project, but at any time can move immediately to the research data and publications, which are presented in traditional journal format (though with many cross linkages). The specialist can go immediately to the scientific part of the presentation, which contains a large "library" of technical documents associated with the project.
Matthews and Scott Dallimore (GSC) have recently completed a beta production CD of the Mackenzie Delta Borehole Project (available at no charge while supplies last). Other projects now in development by Matthews (as Ohana Productions) and associates is one on the Palliser Triangle Global Change Project, which deals with past climate and environment in a very sensitive region of Canada's west (contact Don Lemmen; GSC-Calgary for additional information). Another deals with various types of Geological Hazards (contact Greg Brooks, GSC-Ottawa).
All of these presentations are intended in part to increase public knowledge of GSC activities and therefore will be widely distributed at no cost (except postage). Free distribution of science based CDs is a radical concept that few have attempted, but it is the best way to distribute scientific knowledge, especially when the presentation contains material to help the public understand the significance of the research. Free distribution is possible in part because of the present low cost of production CDs. Design of the presentation is costly, but can be accomplished by enlisting a group of sponsors, who for a contribution of $10-20k, get a small area on the CD to advertise their activities and provide links to their web sites.
Contact John Matthews at Ohana Productions, 23 Sherry Lane, Nepean ON K2G 3L4 (ohana@freenet.carleton.ca) for further information. Matthews is very interested in discussing presentation ideas for other large scientific projects, especially geoscience projects dealing with the Quaternary.