On this page:
Early history
Contributions to meetings and special sessions
Past CAP Executives and Councillors to IFPS

Early history

The original concept of the Canadian Association of Palynologists (CAP) was proposed in Calgary at the 1974 Geological Survey of Canada’s annual meeting of palynologists. The proposal was initiated by Wayne W. Brideaux. No further action was taken on this proposal until 1978, again at a meeting of the GSC palynologists in Calgary when Sedley Barss, Jonathan Bujak and Graham Williams agreed to circulate a questionnaire to Canadian palynologists seeking their support of such a nationalistic organization. Of 100 questionnaires, 51 were returned, 44 in favour of the formation of a Canadian Association of Palynologists. In April 1978 Graham Williams presented details of CAP to the Executive of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists who extended their support to the new group.

The first Executive was elected and officially met for the first time on January 8 1979, at the Atlantic Geoscience Centre, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The Executive included:

• D. C. McGregor, President
• D. M. Jarzen, President-elect
• P. J. H. Richard, Secretary-Treasurer
• J. P. Bujak, Newsletter Editor
• M. S. Barss, Steering Committee
• G. L. Williams, Steering Committee

Table 1 (below) lists the CAP Executive from 1979 to the present. The two-year term of office began in 1987.

CAP was affiliated with the International Commission for Palynology [ICP] (later the International Federation of Palynological Societies [IFPS]) in January 1979, through an invitation of the then President, Alfred Traverse. In 1979 John Utting was voted the CAP Councillor to the ICP. John held this position from 1979 to 1988. David Jarzen was elected to hold the position of Councillor from 1988 to 1992, and re-elected for 1992 to 1996. Table 2 (below) lists the CAP Councillors to IFPS.

CAP has produced a newsletter, with two issues per year, since 1978 even before the election of its first Executive. Newsletter editors have played an important role in the success of CAP, inasmuch as regular annual meetings are not always possible. The Newsletter serves as the vital link in our communication. Sincere appreciation is certainly due for the efforts of our Newsletter editors: Jonathan Bujak (1978-1981); Bert van Helden (1982-1985); Judith Lentin (1986-1988); Alwynne Beaudoin (1989-1998); and Mary Vetter (1999-2005). The current editor is Terri Lacourse. Since 2007, the Newsletter has been produced in digital format, as PDFs.

In January 1987, through the yeoman service of the then Secretary-Treasurer, Rob Fensome, CAP was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization (see CAP Newsletter 10, No. 1, for details). Although CAP is basically a newsletter organization, its incorporation established a set of By-laws from which to guide the organization.

Contributions to meetings and special sessions

Since its formation in 1979, CAP has hosted and contributed to several important international meetings within Canada. These include:

• The 6th IPC (International Palynological Congress of the International Federation of Palynological Societies) at Calgary, Alberta (26 August – 01 September 1984). This event was hosted by the Calgary group of CAP members, led by co-organizers Len Hills and Jan Jansonius, who initiated and won the bid for the congress.
• The 20th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists (AASP) in Halifax, Nova Scotia (7-9 October 1987).
• The 23rd Annual Meeting of the AASP in Banff, Alberta (10-13 October 1990). The organizing committee comprised Dave McIntyre, Tom Demchuk, Jan Ford and Bert van Helden.
• The 28th Annual Meeting of AASP in Ottawa, Ontario (10-14 October 1995). The organizing team was led by David and Susan Jarzen.
• The 36th Annual Meeting of AASP, Joint Meeting AASP-CAP-NAMS, at Brock University in St Catharines, Ontario, October 2003. The organizing team was led by Francine McCarthy.
• Joint meeting of CAP, AASP-The Palynological Society, and GAC-Palaeontology Division, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September-October 2010. This was AASP’s 43rd Annual Meeting. The organizing team was led by Rob Fensome.

CAP has also sponsored special sessions at conferences within Canada and overseas through the years. Among these are:

• Special Session T108 entitled “Palynology in Geoarchaeological and Environmental Studies” at the GSA Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 19-22 2014 (6 posters).
• CAP Special Session entitled “The Palynology of Sudden Events“, co-organized by Alwynne Beaudoin and Terri Lacourse at the AASP-CAP-NAMS-CIMP-DINO10 Joint Meeting, San Francisco, October 20-24 2013 (8 papers).
• Special Session entitled “The Palaeoecology of Extreme Environments“, organized by Mary Vetter and Alwynne Beaudoin at the CANQUA-CGRG 2013 meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, August 2013. The session was held on August 20.
• Special Session in honour of Jock McAndrews, convened by Francine McCarthy, at the AASP-CAP-GACPD Joint Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 2010. The session was entitled “The Amazingly Diverse World of Quaternary Palynology: A Celebration of the Career of Jock McAndrews“.
• CAP-sponsored Special Session entitled “New Directions in the Use of Pollen Analysis in Environmental and Climatic Reconstructions“, organized by Matthew Peros, Sarah Finkelstein and Elisabeth Levac, at 2009 Joint Assembly of the American Geophysical Union, Toronto.
• CAP Special Session “Putting the Ecology Back into Paleoecology“, organized by Terri Lacourse and Marlow Pellatt, at CANQUA meeting at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, May 2009.
• Special Session in honour of Pierre Richard, “Palynology: stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental applications“, organized by Elisabeth Levac and Michelle Garneau, at the GAC-MAC-SEG-SGA Joint Annual Meeting, Quebec City, May 2008.
• A session entitled “What happens to pollen: The trip from anther to microscope slide“, organised by Vaughn Bryant and Catherine Yansa, held at the AASP 38th Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2005.
• A symposium entitled “Land-Sea Correlations in the Cenozoic“, co-convened by Alwynne Beaudoin and Martin Head, and held at AASP-CAP-NAMS Joint Meeting, in St Catharines, Ontario, in 2003.
• A special session on “The Palynology and Micropaleontology of Boundaries“, held at the Geological Association of Canada-Mineralogical Association of Canada (GAC/MAC) Joint Annual Meeting in Saskatoon in 2002 and co-convened by Alwynne Beaudoin and Martin Head.
• A theme session entitled “Palynology and Micropaleontology in Canadian Geoscience: New Frontiers and Applications“, co-convened by Alwynne Beaudoin and Martin Head, at the GeoCanada 2000 meeting in Calgary.
• A symposium, “Palynology in Canada – Palaeoecological and Stratigraphic Applications“, organized by Alwynne Beaudoin, Bert van Helden and David McIntyre, and held with the Geological Association of Canada meetings at Edmonton on May 18 1993.

The CAP-sponsored sessions in 2000 and 2002 resulted in the publication of papers in edited volumes, further promoting and highlighting the Association.

Past CAP Executives and Councillors to IFPS

Table 1: Canadian Association of Palynologists Executive 1979 to 2025
Term	President	President-Elect	Secretary-Treasurer	Newsletter Editor	Website Editor
2025	Manuel Bringué	Zhen Li	Francine McCarthy	Vânia Correia	Julia Hathaway
2024	Jennifer Galloway	Manuel Bringué	Francine McCarthy	(vacant) a/Francine McCarthy	Simon Goring/Manuel Bringué
2023	Jennifer Galloway	(vacant)	Francine McCarthy	Estelle Allan	Manuel Bringué
2022	Florin Pendea	Jennifer Galloway	Francine McCarthy	Estelle Allan	Manuel Bringué
2020-2021	Anna Pieńkowski	Florin Pendea	Francine McCarthy	Florin Pendea / Estelle Allan	Manuel Bringué
2018-2019	Audrey Limoges	Anna Pieńkowski	Jessie Holst Vincent	Florin Pendea	Manuel Bringué
2017	Vera Pospelova	Audrey Limoges	Jessie Holst Vincent	Florin Pendea	Manuel Bringué
2016	Vera Pospelova and Francine McCarthy (shared term)	Vera Pospelova	Mary Vetter	Florin Pendea	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2015	Francine McCarthy	Vera Pospelova	Mary Vetter	Florin Pendea	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2014	Francine McCarthy	(vacant)	Mary Vetter	Florin Pendea	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2012-2013	Terri Lacourse	Francine McCarthy	Mary Vetter	Florin Pendea	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2010-2011	Matthew Peros	Terri Lacourse	Mary Vetter	Terri Lacourse	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2008-2009	Elisabeth Levac	Matthew Peros	Mary Vetter	Terri Lacourse	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2007	Sarah Finkelstein	Elisabeth Levac	Mary Vetter	Terri Lacourse	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2006	Sarah Finkelstein	(vacant)	Mary Vetter	Francine McCarthy and Terri Lacourse	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2005	Catherine Yansa	Sarah Finkelstein	Marlow Pellatt	Francine McCarthy	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2004	Catherine Yansa	(vacant)	Marlow Pellatt	Mary Vetter	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2002-2003	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	Catherine Yansa	Marlow Pellatt	Mary Vetter	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
2000-2001	Martin Head	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	Francine McCarthy	Mary Vetter	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
1995-1996	Glen MacDonald and Ian Campbell (shared term)	Rob Fensome	Martin Head	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	N/A
1993-1994	Elliott Burden	Glen MacDonald	Martin Head	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	N/A
1991-1992	Graham L. Williams	Elliott Burden	Martin Head	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	N/A
1989-1990	Bert Van Helden	Jonathan Bujak and Graham Williams (shared term)	Martin Head	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	N/A
1987-1988	Wayne W. Brideaux	Bert Van Helden	Martin Head	Judith K. Lentin	N/A
1999	Rob Fensome	Martin Head	Francine McCarthy	Mary Vetter	Alwynne B. Beaudoin
1998	Rob Fensome	Martin Head	Francine McCarthy	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	N/A
1997	Ian Campbell	Rob Fensome	Francine McCarthy	Alwynne B. Beaudoin	N/A
1986	Rolf W. Mathewes	Wayne W. Brideaux	Rob Fensome	Judith K. Lentin	N/A
1985	Jaan Terasmae	Rolf W. Mathewes	Rob Fensome	Bert Van Helden	N/A
1984	M. Sedley Barss	Jaan Terasmae	Rob Fensome	Bert Van Helden	N/A
1983	Geoffrey Norris	(office not filled)	Jocelyn Legault	Bert Van Helden	N/A
1982	Richard Hebda	Geoffrey Norris	Jocelyn Legault	Bert Van Helden	N/A
1981	Jan Jansonius	Richard Hebda	Jocelyn Legault	J. Bujak	N/A
1980	David M. Jarzen	Jan Jansonius	Jocelyn Legault	J. Bujak	N/A
1979	D. Colin McGregor	David M. Jarzen	Pierre J. H. Richard	J. Bujak	N/A

Table 2: CAP Councillors to IFPS
Term	Councillor	Notes
2024-2028	Vera Pospelova	Took office at IPC-IOPC 2024, Prague, Czech Republic
2020-2024	Terri Lacourse	Took office at GSA 2020 (virtual), Montréal, 2020
2018-2020	Francine McCarthy	Took office at 51st AASP-CAP, Calgary, 2018
2016-2018	Simon Goring
2012−2016	Simon Goring	Took office at XIII IPC, Tokyo, Japan, 2012
2008−2012	Jean Nicolas Haas	Took office at XII IPC, Bonn, Germany, 2008
2004−2008	Jean Nicolas Haas	Took office at XI IPC, Granada, Spain, 2004
2000−2004	Rolf Mathewes	Took office at X IPC, Nanjing, China, 2000
1996-2000	Julian Szeicz (1996-1998) Gail Chmura (1998-2000)	Julian Szeicz took office at IX IPC, Houston, Texas, USA, 1996. Gail Chmura took over for the remainder of the term following his death.
1992−1996	David Jarzen	Took office at VIII IPC, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1992
1988−1992	David Jarzen	Took office at VII IPC, Brisbane, Australia, 1988
1984−1988	John Utting	Took office at VI IPC, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1984
1980−1984	John Utting	Took office at V IPC, Cambridge, England, 1980
1977−1980	John Utting	Elected representative to IPC, which later became the IFPS. See Canright (1993). CAP Councillor’s term lasts from one IPC to the next, that is, four years.

Reference: Canright, J. (1993) Organizational History of ICP & IFPS. Palynos 16(2):2