ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2004

Objectives and Membership | Constitution | Executive Committee | Business Meeting | Affiliation and Funding | IPA and Lethaia | IPA Publications | IPA Web Site and Electronic Directories | Sponsorship fpr Paleontolgical Meetings | Financial Support for Paleontological Meetings | International Union of Geological Sciences | International Union of Biological Sciences | Other Activities | 2nd International Palaeontological Congress | Accounts for 2004 | Smithsonian institution Archives | Endangered Paleontological Sites | Conclusion

OBJECTIVES AND MEMBERSHIP

The International Palaeontological Association (IPA) aims to promote and coordinate international cooperation in palaeontology and to encourage the integration and synthesis of all palaeontological knowledge. A detailed mission statement is published online and can be found here.

Corporate membership is offered to palaeontological organizations and societies. Individual membership is tied to subscription to the journal of palaeontology and stratigraphy, Lethaia.

CONSTITUTION

The Constitution of IPA, as revised July 8, 2002, is published online and can be found here.

The Officers are considering a proposal for amendments to the Constitution, which will be published on the web site and in Lethaia in 2005, and which will be brought to the General Assembly at the International Palaeontological Congress in Beijing in 2006.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee consists of the President, five Vice-Presidents, Secretary-General, Treasurer, two Members-at-Large, the Past President, and the Past Secretary-General.

Effective August 2002, the officers for the period of 2002-2006 are:

BUSINESS MEETING

The most recent Meeting of the IPA General Assembly was held during the First International Palaeontological Congress in Macquarie, Australia on July 8, 2002. In the absence of the Secretary-General, the Minutes were taken by Dr. Richard J. Aldridge (attached as Appendix 1 of this Report).

The next meeting is scheduled for the Second International Palaeontological Congress in Beijing in 2006. Information concerning the IPC 2006 meeting in Beijing can be found here.

AFFILLIATION and FUNDING

The IPA is affiliated with the International Union of Geolological Sciences (IUGS) and with the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) but receives no funding from either organization.

The income of the IPA is derived in part from corporate membership at the rate of US $7.50 per 100 members. The following is a list of corporate members for 2004 as of January 3, 2005:

The other source of IPA income is from individual membership, which is designated as a portion (USD $25) of each individual subscription to Lethaia, the International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy. As of December 2004 the number of individual members is 209.

IPA and LETHAIA

Lethaia, The Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, is published by Taylor & Francis under the oversight of the Lethaia Foundation (Lars Holmer, Chairman, Svend Stouge, Editor-in-Chief). Lethaia is a formal publication outlet for the IPA, and subscription by an individual confers membership in IPA. IPA is not involved in the editing or production of Lethaia, although both David Bruton, Former Chairman of the Lethaia Foundation, and Svend Stouge are members of the Executive Committee of IPA.

The IPA and Lethaia have enjoyed a long symbiotic relationship. Members of IPA were influential in the founding of Lethaia in 1968 as an international journal of broad scope in paleontology and stratigraphy, at a time when nearly all other journals were tied to national organizations and specialized interests. In 1970 IPA formally adopted Lethaia as its official journal and authorized the publishers to collect IPA dues from individual subscribers. According to the IPA Constitution, formal communications of IPA are published in Lethaia.

IPA PUBLICATIONS

A brief article (Aldridge et al., 2004) describing the IPA was published in Lethaia 37(1): 126 (see Appendix 2).

A similar article about the IPA and its activities was posted to the electronic mailing list PaleoNet on July 24, 2004 (see Appendix 3).

Corporate members of IPA and organizers of palaeontological meetings are encouraged to copy these articles for distribution to participants and members.

IPA WEBSITE and ELECTRONIC DIRECTORIES

The IPA constitution prescribes the publication of a world directory of paleontologists, among other activities. Since 2001 this has been published electronically.

In September 2001 the webmaster, Michael Cormack, announced a new website for the IPA [http://ipa.geo.ku.edu/] featuring general information about the association, its officers, rules and by-laws, links to the publishers of Lethaia and Fossils & Strata, and information on palaeontological symposia. Three electronic databases are now part of the IPA site. The site is immensely popular, and over 1700 paleontologists have now entered appropriate data.

The Directory of Paleontologists of the World [http://ipa.geo.ukans.edu:591/Directory] (1765 records)

Fossil Collections of the World [http://ipa.geo.ukans.edu:591/Fossil] (85 records)

The PaleoLink Database [http://ipa.geo.ukans.edu:591/PaleoLink] (283 records)

A fourth electronic database is under development:

The Directory of Globally Important Palaeontological Sites

SUPPORT for PALEONTOLOGICAL MEETINGS

Organizers of palaeontological meetings are invited to apply for IPA sponsorship, which includes permission to mention IPA sponsorship on advertising materials and to use the IPA logo on conference documents. This permission is automatically granted for individual members and corporate members of IPA.

In 2004 IPA sponsorship was granted to the following meetings:

IV International symposium on Extant and Fossil Charophytes, September 2004 in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia (Dr. Adriana Garcia, Organizer).

15th International Symposium on Ostracoda in Berlin, September 2005 (Dr. Michael Schudack, Organizer).

Evolution of life on the Earth, ELE-2005, Tomsk, Russia (Prof. Vera Podobina, Organizer).

FINANCIAL SUPPORT of PALEONTOLOGICAL MEETINGS

The Association considers applications for grants of US$ 500 to cover the costs of initial planning, but not to defray travel and other expenses of participants. It is expected that this seed money will be repaid when the meeting is successfully concluded. Funding is usually made well in advance of the meeting. None of the requests for financial support received in 2004 met the stated criteria.

For financial reasons, the IPA had to decline an invitation from the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature to make a donation at this time to the ICZN Appeal [http://www.iczn.org/supplappeal.htm].

The IPA provided support for the Bioevents conference at Caravaca, Spain, in June 2003. On 10 February 2004 Prof. C.R.C. Paul, an organizer of that conference, provided a report, which is attached here as Appendix 4.

INTERNATIONAL UNION of GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES

IPA Vice-President Daniel Goujet and Past-President John Talent are representing the IPA on the Scientific Programme Committee of the International Year of Planet Earth (2004-2007). Information concerning that activity is available at [www.esfs.org].

IPA Vice-President Tatiana Koren represented the IPA at the joint IUGS-IGC Council meetings and Special Meeting of IUGS Affiliated Organisations at the International Geological Congress in Florence, 20-27 August 2004. Her report on this meeting is Appendix 5 of this report.

IPA was invited to nominate a speaker to address the scientific aspects of conservation of palaeontological sites worldwide, for a topical symposium at the International Geological Congress (IGC) in Florence, 20-28 August 2004. Dr. Jere Lipps (University of California at Berkeley) represented IPA there with a contribution titled "Conservation Paleobiology: History Matters!" The symposium, titled "Geosites, Geoparks, Geotourism" was convened by Dr. Bill Wimbledon and co-sponsored by the IUGS Commission on Stratigraphy, ProGeo and the International Union of Geographers.

E-bulletins describing activities of the IUGS are received regularly and are published at the following web site: [http://www.iugs.org/iugs/news/]

INTERNATIONAL UNION of BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

The IPA has been invited to participate in the 28th General Assembly of the IUBS in Cairo in January 2004. The official IPA representative at this meeting was Dr. Jin Yu-guan, Vice-President of IPA. We look forward to continued cooperation in activities of mutual interest.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Richard J. Aldridge, President, represented IPA at the Dinosaur Festival held in Lufeng, Yunnan Province, China, 1-3 October 2004.

Exploratory discussions have been held with the organizers of international palaeontological and stratigraphical databases (Paleobase, Chronos), regarding possible IPA help in publicising these initiatives.

SECOND INTERNATIONAL of PALAEONTOLOGICAL CONGRESS

The Palaeontological Society of China will host this meeting in Beijing, China, June 17 to 23, 2006. The official website is [http://www.ipc2006.ac.cn/]. An official invitation from the President of IPA is attached to this report as Appendix 6.

An organizing committee has been formed and has held its first meeting in Beijing; there will be regular contact with officers of IPA during the planning of the meeting. A first circular is expected in early 2005.

The Executive Committee of IPA will cooperate with the International Scientific Committee of IPC, and presidents of national and regional palaeontological societies will also be invited to participate in planning the scientific programs. The schedule will include field excursions, a one-day mid-congress excursion, exhibitions of collections, and four days for plenary sessions, special sessions, and business meetings.

There will be about 35 symposia, including plenary sessions with speakers representing IGCP projects and other international programs.

All Corporate Members of IPA are invited to sponsor or co-sponsor one or more symposia at IPC2006. Proposals for symposia and other suggestions should be forwarded to Dr. Jin Yu-gan, Vice-President of IPA and Vice-Chair, International Scientific Committee for IPC2006. The first congress held in Australia in 2002 represented a wide range of interests of our community and showcased the vigor and vitality of our discipline. It also provided an invaluable venue for our colleagues worldwide, and across all subdisciplines, to meet and mingle, and as a result, facilitated both international and interdisciplinary collaborations. We hope that the IPC 2006 will capture the rapid growth in our paleontological knowledge and highlight the importance of exploring unknown territories in our discipline.

ACCOUNTS for 2004

Treasurer's Reports are compiled quarterly and annually. The Association wishes to acknowledge the efforts of the Treasurer, Roger L. Kaesler, for his management of the IPA accounts, and of Gerd Halvorsen of Taylor & Francis for the <i>Lethaia</i> accounting.

In April 2001 the Secretary-General and the Treasurer submitted a signed statement to the U. S. Internal Revenue Service seeking to register the IPA as a charity pursuing educational aims and therefore exempt from paying tax. This status has been approved.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ARCHIVES

In 1993 an agreement was reached with the Smithsonian Institution Archives to deposit the IPA records there. Correspondence with Archivist Shawn Johnstone confirms that one box of records was deposited in 1994 covering the dates 1973-1992.

IPA officers for the period 1993-2002 have been asked to transfer their IPA records to the SIA.

Anyone having information concerning the whereabouts of IPA records for any part of the period 1933-1973 is requested to contact the Secretary-General.

ENDANGERED PALAEONTOLOGICAL SITES

H. Richard Lane's report on the initial phase of this IPA project was published in September 1998, Lethaia 31(3): 196-266. It included his report, two catalogues of endangered fossil sites, and a form for submitting information about endangered fossil sites.

Dr. Jere Lipps represented IPA at a workshop on the conservation of paleontological sites, at the IGC in Florence in August 2004.

The IPA is developing an electronic database to compile global information on threatened, endangered and protected palaeontological sites.

In December 2004 the IPA submitted an Expression of Interest to the IUGS Grants Program to support a workshop at the IPC in Beijing in 2006, to stimulate global participation in this project (see Appendix 7).

CONCLUSION

In 2004 the IPA continued to provide leadership and support for palaeontological activities worldwide.

In 2005, the Executive Committee of IPA intend to:

   Draft revisions to the Constitution to improve functionality of the IPA, for discussion in 2005 and approval at the IPC in 2006.

   Develop an electronic Directory of Globally Important Palaeontological sites.

   Encourage more palaeontologists to subscribe to Lethaia.

   Encourage more palaeontological societies to become corporate members of IPA.

   Encourage working groups and other informal palaeontological organizations to affiliate with IPA.

   Encourage contributions by organizations and individuals to the directories maintained by IPA.

   Encourage specialist palaeontological societies to hold their meetings in close juxtaposition with the International Palaeontological Congresses.

   Encourage participation by palaeontologists in relevant interdisciplinary scientific programs.

   Continue to represent and develop the interests of palaeontology where appropriate, nationally, regionally and worldwide.

Submitted January 3, 2005
Rosalie F. Maddocks
Secretary-General IPA

Appendices:

1. Minutes of IPA General Assembly, Sydney 2002.
2. Lethaia article, 2004
3. PaleoNet post, 2004
4. Report on BioEvents Conference, 2002
5. Report on IUGS Meeting With Affiliated Organizations, 2004
6. Invitation to IPC 2006
7. Expression of Interest to IUGS: A Directory of Globally Important Palaeontological Sites

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