[Aqualist] FW: Plant macrofossil research and teaching resources

[John Tibby]

Just forwarding this great resource...

From: Paleolimnology Forum <PALEOLIM at LISTS.UFL.EDU> On Behalf Of Thomas Whitmore
Sent: Saturday, 4 October 2025 8:29 AM
To: PALEOLIM at LISTS.UFL.EDU
Subject: Plant macrofossil research and teaching resources

CAUTION: External email. Only click on links or open attachments from trusted senders.

________________________________
Dear Colleagues,

I want to bring two resources to your attention that can be valuable for research and teaching about plant macrofossils in sediment cores.

Hilary Birks has a distinguished career that involved a great deal of research expertise and teaching about plant macrofossils.  Hilary taught a macrofossil course that was last offered in 2014.  With the help of Cathy Jenks, Hilary has now posted her former lectures for colleagues to view and download at:
 https://birksbirks.w.uib.no/plant-macrofossil-course/<https://birksbirks.w.uib.no/plant-macrofossil-course/>
If you should have any trouble accessing a lecture once you click on a link on that page, use the download icon in the upper right.  These lectures can be updated and tailored for the specific needs of colleagues in various regions.  Thanks to Hilary and Cathy for doing this!

Secondly, a book entitled "Seeds and Fruits of Aquatic Plants of Northern Europe - A Handbook" by Hilary H. Birks, Carl D. Sayer and Richard E. Walton is scheduled to be published at the end of October by Springer as part of the Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research series.  A description of the book is shown at this link:
https://link.springer.com/book/9783032041692<https://link.springer.com/book/9783032041692>
This book will be a welcome resource.

There is a loss of botanical education at many universities around the world (e.g., Stroud et al., 2022. The botanical education extinction and the fall of plant awareness. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.9019<https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.9019>).  For this reason, it takes conscious effort to retain traditional knowledge and skills related to macrofossil and pollen analyses.  I want to encourage colleagues to continue supporting courses, workshops and student research that pertain to pollen and plant macrofossils.  These traditional skills, combined with recent technological methods, contribute to more complete paleoecological reconstructions.  I teach botany courses in addition to limnology/paleolimnology and I find that many students have keen interest in aquatic-plant and upland communities.  Macrofossils and pollen provide important insights about pre-disturbance conditions and changes in lake systems, and about lake and watershed linkages.  If other colleagues have concern and thoughts about how we can work together to retain these traditional skills, please feel free to contact me.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Tom Whitmore
whitmore at usf.edu<mailto:whitmore at usf.edu>

The Paleolimnology Forum (PALEOLIM) deals with all aspects of paleolimnology. The Forum is the official listservice for the International Paleolimnology Association (IPA). Information about IPA is available at: http://www.paleolim.org<http://www.paleolim.org> To submit messages to the listservice, send an email with an appropriate subject header to: paleolim at lists.ufl.edu<mailto:paleolim at lists.ufl.edu> For information about the listservice or managing your subscription, please contact: Moderator: Tom Whitmore at whitmore at usf.edu<mailto:whitmore at usf.edu>