Canadian Association of Palynologists Annual General Meeting Minutes

Recorded by Vânia Correia and Manuel Bringué

Held during the Canadian Quaternary Association Biennial Meeting (CANQUA) 2026 (June 3–6, 2026) and online (Teams)

When: Wednesday June 3, 2026 at 3:30–5:30 PM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time); that is:

• 4:30–6:30 PM ADT (e.g., Halifax)
• 3:30–5:30 PM EDT (e.g., in person in Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa)
• 1:30–3:30 PM MDT (e.g., Calgary, Edmonton)
• 12:30–2:30 PM PDT (e.g., Vancouver)

Where: In person: McGill University, Leacock Building, room 219
              Online: Teams

Members present:

Manuel Bringué (Meeting Chair and CAP President), Zhen Li (CAP President-Elect), Francine McCarthy (CAP Secretary/Treasurer), Vânia Correia (CAP Newsletter Editor), Julia Hathaway (CAP Website Editor), Diana Tirlea (CAP Outreach officer), Vera Pospelova (CAP Councillor to IFPS), Aaron Alderson, Saif Al-Silwadi, Scott Cocker, Mikayla Cote, Sarah Finklestein, Martin Head, Peta Mudie, Lauren Nesbitt, Pierre Richard and Dayne Schwarz. Joined later: Christopher Hebda. Quorum reached.

Call to order – 3:33 PM EDT

1. Acceptance of Agenda

MOTION: to accept agenda: Lauren moves and Julia seconds. Motion carried.

2. Minutes of the 2024 Annual General Meeting

MOTION: to accept the Minutes of the 2024 AGM: Scott moves and Diana seconds. Motion carried.

3. Business arising from Minutes

No business arose.

4. President’s report, Manuel Bringué

Manuel acknowledged the hard work of the full CAP Executive (e.g., Francine M. for continued leadership, Zhen L. for adjudicating the student award, Vania C. for the latest newsletter…). Manuel also congratulated CAP Student Research Award recipient Quinn Nixon-Goebel and highlighted progress on IPC-IOPC 2028 in Calgary.

5. Secretary/Treasurer’s report, Francine McCarthy

Francine reported on healthy membership and financial balance for CAP. She highlighted two new CAP student members (and one additional since her report) and several returning members, thanks largely to Diana’s outreach efforts. CAP’s bank account shows a good balance with increased membership and the two large donations from last year.

6. Auditor’s statement, Kelly Biagi

Francine relayed Kelly Biagi’s audit of CAP’s finances. Everything is in order. CAP is grateful for Kelly’s feedback this year again!

7. Newsletter Editor’s report, Vânia Correia

Vânia reported on two issues of the CAP Newsletter: a substantial December 2025 issue and shorter May 2026 issue, just sent out. Members are active sending material to the newsletter and Vânia always welcomes contributions.

Manuel asked about alternatives for Publisher (software used to assemble the newsletters; to be discontinued in the fall) – Vânia is aware and is looking for an alternative software for the December volume.

8. Website Editor’s report, Julia Hattaway

Julia reported on increasing website visits, especially since the beginning of 2026 and mainly from the United States.

Manuel suggested reviewing links on the “Palynology labs in Canada” page, and offered to update the IPC-IOPC page if necessary updates become too frequent.

9. CAP Outreach Officer Report, Diana Tirlea

Diana highlighted CAP’s Instagram account activity (with 172 followers) and aims to increase the frequency of posts to 24 per year. She invites contributions from members on any material broadly related to palynology. Diana might reach out to palynology labs listed on the CAP webpage.

Manuel asked whether members submitting material for Instagram posts should still use the template Diana and Nick put together in 2022. Diana answered that the template was mostly to set a formal process when opening the Instagram account, but the easier route is simply to email her with the picture(s) and quick description.

MOTION: to accept all the Executive reports: moved by Mikayla, seconded by Peta. Motion carried.

10. Appointment of auditor, Francine McCarthy

Kelly Biagi will likely not be available to review CAP’s finances next year. Francine will ask Kevin Turner (Brock U.).

Manuel brought up the question of venue for CAP’s 2027 AGM. Possible venues include GAC-MAC 2027 (June, Whitehorse), GSA 2027 (October, Montréal), or a fully online AGM, with GAC-MAC appearing like the preferred option at this point.

11. Vacancy on the Executive, Manuel Bringué

There is no vacancy on the Executive at this time, but we need to start thinking of nominations for the next President-Elect, as the position will need to be filled in January 2027.  

Nominations for this critical position is usually extended to individuals with stable employment, and ideally a person that has not already been President. Sarah reflected on how much she enjoyed serving as CAP President soon after landing her position and suggested to make a general call to the membership, giving some time to come up with the best possible candidates. Diana suggested to expend the range of specialities to consider (that is, including experts in connected disciplines as long as there is a relevant tie to palynology), an idea supported by Peta who would also welcome new perspectives. Vera highlighted that ideally candidates would already have a history of involvement in CAP affairs to ensure their motivation and dedication are truly aligned with CAP’s priorities; if candidates considered are unfamiliar with CAP affairs, Manuel and Zhen could send personal emails encouraging them to attend the AGM (for instance) and getting involved. Peta suggested to include the list of Past Presidents in the call for nominations, which is available on the History of CAP page. Francine mentioned that one prominent Canadian palynologist, Anne de Vernal, would fit all the criteria. A call for President-Elect nominations will be sent to the membership shortly.

12. Call-out for contributions to CAP’s Instagram account, Diana Tirlea

Diana reiterated her call for contributions, which can showcase palynology directly or any related topic such as macrofossils, reference collections, recent publications or upcoming conferences. Members should send contributions directly to her “gov.ab.ca” email. Tagging CAP on relevant posts, like Jen Galloway has done many times, also helps increase CAP’s visibility. Regular postings by members can easily be arranged as well.

Zhen suggested posting pictures of 3D models of pollen grains and dinoflagellates (and possibly sharing the models themselves); Zhen and Diana showed everyone several beautiful examples, which are excellent, visually engaging tools for outreach.

13. Update on IPC-IOPC 2028, Manuel Bringué

Manuel provided an update on progress organizing IPC-IOPC 2028. Manuel is now Co-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, working closely with Christopher West; Jen Galloway is also on the committee. A company called Global Planning Solution was hired to organize the event and helps with many aspects such as sponsorships, logo design, conference website etc. Manuel and Christopher are currently assembling the scientific committee, trying to cover the broadest range of expertise possible. The conference website and first circular will be released very soon. With the conference taking place immediately before the International Geological Congress (IGC 2028, also in Calgary: The 2028 International Geological Congress | IGC 2028 Calgary), whose theme is “Geosciences for Humanity”, there will be opportunities for cross-over field trips etc.

14. The Future of CAP – Priorities and Goals

CAP membership levels are now healthy, thanks to the continued efforts of many people over many years. Manuel thanked everyone for their efforts recruiting students (including many by Francine, Vera) and initiatives (such as CAP Instagram account, pro-active outreach) which are now bearing fruit. The work goes on and we need to continue our advocacy, but the outlook for our association is very encouraging!

IPC-IOPC 2028 will be an ideal platform to showcase Canadian palynology while developing international and cross-disciplinary connections. Manuel asked the entire CAP community to consider submitting symposia proposals when the call goes out. It will be CAP’s time to shine on the international stage!

Francine highlighted that CAP will need to have a strategy in place for how, and how much will be spent on IPC-IOPC students travel grants, sponsorship and incentives to attend the meeting. Manuel is currently gathering information from previous meeting organizers about the ~40 travel grants that were awarded to support student attendance of the Prague 2024 congress. When discussing eligibility criteria for possible CAP-sponsored travel grants, Scott mentioned that requesting a CAP membership to be eligible might actually hinder collaborations with specialist from connected fields – CAP should consider allocating a portion of their funds to attendees who are simply exploring connections with the palynology community.

15. Other business

Vera reminded the membership to submit any contribution to PALYNOS (IFPS Newsletter) by June 12^th.

Manuel reminded members that any contribution to the CAP Instagram account could also be leveraged on the website and in the newsletter – consider copying Julia and Vânia when emailing material to Diana.

16. Adjournment

MOTION: to adjourn the meeting: Lauren moves and Saif seconds. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned – 4:46 PM EDT

2026 CAP AGM attendees. From left to right: Top row. Manuel Bringué, Vânia Correia, Francine McCarthy.
Middle row: Zhen Li, Pierre Richard; in person attendees: Aaron Alderson, Dayne Schwarz, Mikayla Cote, Lauren Nesbitt, Scott Cocker, Martin Head, Saif Al-Silwadi, Julia Hathaway, Chris Hebda, Sarah Finklestein.
Bottom row: Diana Tirlea, Vera Pospelova, Peta Mudie.