Initial Announcement
Forams 2002: International Symposium on Foraminifera
International Symposia on Foraminifera have been held every few years since
the first Benthos meeting in 1975 (Halifax). Meetings have been held at Pau
(1981), Geneva (1986), Sendai (1990), Berkeley (1994), and Monterrey
(1998). At Monterrey, it was decided to hold the next meeting in Perth
(Australia) in 2002.
The purpose of this announcement is to provide you with information on
initial planning for the symposium. We welcome comments about the plan and
any innovations that you think we should attempt, and invite you to fill
out the questionnaire and return it to us. Please send this message to
other foram workers in your area.
The symposium is being co-ordinated by David Haig and Stefan Revets of the
Department of Geology & Geophysics at the University of Western Australia
[see details of the host department at
http://www.geol.uwa.edu.au/~biostrat/ ]
Timing of Symposium:
Monday 4 February to Friday 8 February, 2002.
Venue
The Crawley (Nedlands) campus of the University of Western Australia, Perth.
Main components of Symposium
Oral Presentations: We propose to schedule talks on Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, and Friday of the conference week. The talks will include
plenary sessions with each talk of 45 minutes duration, and a number of
thematic sessions with talks each of 20 minutes duration. An "editorial
board" will be set up to advise on which "keynote" talks should be included
in the plenary sessions. The lecture venues will have light and computer
projection facilities. We will award "best paper" prizes in each session of
the conference.
Poster Presentations: Posters will be invited. We will schedule times free
of oral presentations when authors can be present to discuss their posters.
Microfossil viewing and exchange: A laboratory with stereomicroscopes will
be set up to allow participants to view and exchange foraminiferal material
during the conference. Sediment residues from Western Australian formations
will be available for examination.
Mid-conference field day: We plan to take Wednesday off from the normal
conference business in order to catch some forams on Rottnest Island near
Perth. The day will include a mixture of sight-seeing, aspects of local
geology, and swimming among seagrass and corals and rock platforms in
crystal clear waters floored by white carbonate sand. Forams will be
everywhere so bring your bathers and join the fun!
Pre- and Post- Conference Field Excursions: Depending on demand,
excursions in Western Australia may be offered to Ningaloo Reef and the
adjacent Carnarvon Basin (Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene); the Geraldton to
Shark Bay area in Western Australia (looking at modern environments and
Ordovician, Permian, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene deposits);
and to estuaries and saline lakes south of Perth to Albany (modern
environments; Pleistocene and Eocene). It may also be possible to run
excursions to other parts of Australia and the adjacent region (e.g. New
Guinea). But remember it will be summer and hot!
Social Program: A cocktail party, barbecue, and dinner will be scheduled
during conference week. Time will be available for you to explore the
night-life of Perth and Fremantle. Nedlands (Crawley) is situated half-way
between central Perth and the port city of Fremantle. Depending on demand,
an
"accompanying guest program" will be arranged.
Accommodation: Inexpensive accomodation is being arranged at residential
colleges on the University Campus. A variety of rooms will be available
(single, twin-share, airconditioned or with fans, on-suite facilities or
facilities shared by a small number of rooms). If you would rather stay in
hotel accommodation (e.g. in Perth City or in Fremantle), we will provide
you with contact addresses.
Registration fees and other costs
We realise that airfares to Perth from overseas are expensive.Therefore we
will attempt to keep the conference registration fee as low as possible.
At present one Australian dollar = 0.65 cents US. Pre- and post-conference
excursions will be expensive and will probably cost (for travel and
accommodation) in the order of $1500-3000 (Australian dollars) for 5-7 day
excursions. In Perth, university college accommodation will probably cost
Aust.$40-$70 per night for bed and breakfast depending on type of room.
Single room accommodation at city hotels in Perth will probably cost about
Aust.$150-$300 per night. The professional conference-organization group
within the administration of our University (UWA Extension) is helping us
organize registration and other logistics. Accommodation will be
co-ordinated by St George's College.
Communication
We are establishing a web site. This will be in operation within a month or
two.
We also have a dedicated email address (forams at geol.uwa.edu.au). Depending
on your preference, we will communicate with you either via post
or email.
We plan to produce the First Circular for distribution later in 2000.
ESCAPE TO PERTH IN 2002
And bring your swimming gear, snorkel and mask
To assist us in planning the symposium, please fill in the following
details and return as soon as possible.
EITHER post this sheet to
FORAMS 2002
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
NEDLANDS 6907
AUSTRALIA
OR email to forams at geol.uwa.edu.au
Your name:
Your address:
Your email address:
Do you prefer to correspond by letter or by email (cross-out what
does not apply)
In what general areas you would like to contribute a talk(s) at the
symposium:
Would you like to contribute a poster?
Would you consider going on a pre- or post-conference field excursion?
What would you most like to see?
If a partner or friend is likely to accompany you to Perth, would these
people be interested in an organized "accompanying guest program", or
would they rather plan their Perth adventure upon arrival here.
Please make any other suggestions that you think would make Perth a great
conference.
David Haig and Stefan Revets, Symposium Co-ordinators
