Report 2023

Minutes, Annual General Meeting, Canadian Association of Palynologists
Thursday, December 7, 2023, 1:00 PM EST, Virtual Meeting

Members present:
Jennifer Galloway (Meeting Chair, President), Francine McCarthy (Secretary-Treasurer), Manuel Bringué (Meeting Secretary, Website Editor), Terri Lacourse (CAP Councillor to IFPS), Estelle Allan (Newsletter Editor), Alwynne Beaudoin, Rob Fensome, Simon Goring, Sandy McLachlan, Josh Moraal, Peta Mudie, Cesar A. Vera Florez, Pierre Richard. Quorum reached.
Meeting called to order by CAP President J. Galloway, 1:10 pm EST.

  1. Acceptance of Agenda

Motion to accept agenda carried (P. Mudie/T. Lacourse). 

  1. Minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting

Motion to accept the minutes of the 2022 CAP AGM carried (F. McCarthy/M. Bringué)

  1. Business arising from Minutes

No business arose.

  1. President’s report, Jennifer Galloway

CAP President J. Galloway thanked the Executive and membership. She highlighted the importance of supporting CAP’s presence on social media, working with the Outreach team (D. Tirlea, N. Riddick). She congratulated 2023 CAP Student Award recipient C. Vera Flores, who completed his MSc and has started his PhD. J. Galloway also congratulated F. McCarthy for the successful bid of Crawford Lake as Anthropocene GSSP (F. McCarthy acknowledged the contribution of others including N. Riddick and J. McAndrews).
A. Beaudoin noted that GAC-MAC 2024 will be held at Brandon U., not Sudbury.

  1. Secretary/Treasurer’s report, Francine McCarthy

CAP Secretary/Treasurer F. McCarthy reported on the current state of membership and that annual expenditures, however modest, are higher than revenues. In the long term, membership increase is needed to keep up with expenditures.

  1. Auditor’s statement, Diana Tirlea (in absentia)

D. Tirlea was thanked for auditing the Secretary-Treasurer’s financial statement.
Motion to accept the Auditor’s statement carried (M. Bringué/P. Mudie).

  1. Newsletter Editor’s report, Estelle Allan

CAP Newsletter Editor E. Allan reported on the last 2 issues, thanking the many contributors. She is stepping down as Newsletter Editor and CAP is looking for another motivated member to take on this fun position! The next Newsletter Editor can count on support from E. Allan and other members with experience.

  1. Website Editor’s report, Manuel Bringué

CAP Website Editor M. Bringué reported on the healthy website. CAP upgraded the website to WordPress’ most affordable paid plan in January 2023, mainly to avoid advertisement and maintain CAP’s professional online presence. He invites contributions from the membership, in particular, opportunities and pictures of palynomorphs to display on the Home page.

  1. CAP Councillor to IFPS, Terri Lacourse

No news from IFPS to report.
Motion to accept all reports carried (A. Beaudoin/P. Richard).

  1. Appointment of auditor, Francine McCarthy

Lacourse suggested the auditor be external to CAP to avoid any potential conflict of interest. F. McCarthy and/or T. Lacourse will ask colleagues in their departments.

  1. Vote on CAPs involvement in IPC/ IOPC bid (due to IFPS in mid-December), Francine McCarthy

Original idea was a CAP bid to host IPC/IOPC 2024 in Toronto; because of the pandemic, the 2024 congress is being held in Prague and we are now discussing a CAP bid for 2028. While Toronto remains a viable option and F. McCarthy already assembled material for a bid, the preferred option is now for CAP to support a Calgary bid lead by Christopher West (Royal Tyrell Museum), whose potential field trips would better appeal to paleobotanists and pre-Quaternary palynologists, and where potentially more Calgary-area members could contribute to its organization. The Calgary bid would schedule the IPC/IOPC immediately before or after the IGC (current IGC bid is for Aug. 12-20). CAP’s involvement would still be substantial as Christopher West would likely have limited support from Tyrell. M. Bringué offered to help from Calgary. R. Fensome, T. Lacourse, A. Beaudoin (tentatively), S. McLachlan and S. Goring also offered their support from a distance. P. Mudie highlighted support from GEOTOP, ISMER and UNB-Fredericton, all very active groups in Canadian palynology, would be helpful for a successful event.
T. Lacourse moved for J. Galloway to express CAP’s support of Christopher West’s IPC/IOPC 2028 Calgary bid, with CAP’s exact level of support to be defined later. P. Richard seconded, motion was carried unanimously.

  1. Commemoration of Jock McAndrews’ contributions to Canadian Palynology, Francine McCarthy

Jock McAndrews was a pillar of Canadian palynology. Matthew Peros and F. McCarthy are preparing a commemoration for the Newsletter, partly using material from Jock’s memorial at UofT (S. Finkelstein). Jock was F. McCarthy’s supervisor in the mid 1980s and then a close collaborator. There would be no bid for Crawford Lake without him. He received the news of GSSP acceptance before passing. He made enormous contributions to palynology and other connected disciplines. F. McCarthy invites contributions from CAP members, if they have anything to share.

  1. Discussion of location of 2024 AGM, with vote, Francine McCarthy

CANQUA (Regina, SK, August 18-21) appears to be the best option for the 2024 CAP AGM. CAP received a special invitation to contribute to CANQUA; its Quaternary focus and the proximity of several CAP members promises to attract several CAP members, and the meeting will still be hybrid for people to join the AGM online. Other possible venues discussed were IPC/IOPC in Prague (not practical for most Canadians) and GAC-MAC (also Quaternary focus and close to Regina, but not as well aligned with CAP interests), although CAP contributions are welcomed.
Motion to hold the 2024 CAP AGM at CANQUA (Regina, Aug. 18-21) as a hybrid meeting (T. Lacourse/F. McCarthy), unanimously carried.

  1. Vacancies on Executive, Jennifer Galloway

a. President-Elect (currently vacant)
M. Bringué offered to step in as President-Elect, but it would create a vacancy for the Website Editor position. S. Goring offered to take on the role of Website Editor. Since CAP by-laws (Section 6) indicate that ballots are not necessary when only one candidate stands for election, vacancies can be filled by acclamation. M. Bringué and S. Goring will still send a short biography and letter (for President-Elect) to introduce themselves and their vision to the membership, as President-Elect and Website Editor, respectively.

b. Newsletter Editor
No nomination was received before or at the AGM. CAP Executive will continue to seek nominations, and will actively support the new Newsletter Editor in this non-onerous and fun role, vital to the organization.

  1. The Future of CAP – Priorities and Goals

Priorities were clearly established as follows: (1) increasing membership, (2) formalizing the Outreach position on the Executive (including changes to the by-laws), and (3) supporting the Calgary bid for IPC/IOPC 2028.

  1. Other Business

Changes to by-laws: President-Elect (M. Bringué) will lead the changes, consisting in formalizing the Outreach position on the Executive, and updating various details, with support from the rest of the Executive.
S. Goring: Neotoma has online and in person workshops we can arrange for anyone interested in training folks to use the database for analysis or data contribution.

  1. Adjournment

Motion to adjourn the AGM carried (J. Galloway/M. Bringué). Meeting adjourned at 2:27 pm EST.

2023 CAP AGM screenshot2023 CAP AGM attendees.