Funded by NSF Office of International and Integrative Global Venture Fund and NSF Sedimentary Geology & Paleobiology Program
Non-Technical Description: This award will provide partial support for the international travel of 15 US graduate students to attend the Fourth International Palaeontological Congress (4th IPC) in Mendoza, Argentina from 28 September ? 3 October 2014. It is expected that more than 500 professional paleontologists from around the globe will attend the 4th IPC. Students selected to receive travel support will be chosen from across the subfields of paleontology, ensuring that a diverse group of students have the opportunity to attend and present their research results. In addition to sharing their own research, the meeting will provide opportunities for participants to explore new research directions and debate topics with specialists from across the globe. There will be a combination of plenary lectures, symposia on leading issues, interactive workshops, technical sessions and short courses.
Paleontology is a vibrant discipline that includes such currently relevant topics as the origin and evolution of life, the response of biotas to environmental perturbations, extinction and the nature of preservation of fossil data. It is a completely interdisciplinary field of study that includes researchers from biology, sedimentary geology, stratigraphy, geochronology, geochemistry, and modeling. The STEPPE coordinating office, in collaboration with the Geological Society of America, the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America, the Paleontological Society, the Society for Sedimentary Geology-SEPM and the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology will read and evaluate undergraduate and graduate student applications, ensuring that there is equal representation from across the societies? disciplines and that there is balance in terms of gender and participation by those from underrepresented groups. Student participation in the 4th IPC meeting will uniquely contribute to the geological and biological sciences because it will bring together global paleontologists, of all career stages, to share their research methods, findings and experiences in the field. This will lead to new opportunities for collaboration and the creation of novel approaches to studying our world.
in Mendoza, Argentina from 28 September through 3 October 2014. The 4th IPC meeting provided unique contributions to the geological and biological sciences because it brought together global paleontologists, of all career stages, to share their research methods, findings and experiences in the field. Student awardees were selected by a joint committee composed of representatives from Geological Society of America, Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America, the Paleontological Society, Society for Sedimentary Geology-SEPM and the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology. Thirteen students from the US received support from this funded project and an additional three international students received funding support through STEPPE's collaborating partners. This outstanding group of students was able to present their research findings to students and professionals from around the world. Students had the opportunity to attend events and explore the area together. They learned about regional resources and new approaches that are likely to lead to new research synergies across traditional disciplinary and geographical boundaries. STEPPE travel awardees wrote blog posts about their experiences at the meeting (posted on the STEPPE website (http://steppe.org/category/ipc4/)) and the submitted a co-authored manuscript on their experience that was published in GSA Today, SEPM's The Sedimentary Record and the Paleontological Society's PRISCUM.
