The Micropalaeontological Society

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SURVEY: Marine Micropalaeontogical Data Requirements

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Anne Strack, Lukas Jonkers and Michal Kucera at MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Robert Huber at PANGAEA – the data publisher for Earth and Environmental Science are conducting a survey to assess what we as a community deem necessary to increase the interoperability and reusability of marine microfossil assemblage data. The product will be a checklist of (meta)data requirements that can be used by data generators when making their data (publicly) available. At the same time, this checklist can be used by data repositories and data stewards to assess if datasets align with community standards.

This is primarily so we can make better use of such data and large synthesis efforts like TRITON become easier. The aim is the use the results of the survey as the basis for a short paper that can be used by people sharing data, editors and data repositories. 

Please find the survey here – it only takes a few minutes!

You can get in touch with Lukas Jonkers if you have questions about this survey or about the project.

TMS Newsletter 2023

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We are pleased to announce that the TMS Newsletter for July 2023 is now available to download here

APPLICATIONS OPEN: TMS Image Competiton 2023

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Since 2014, The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS) has annually held a micropalaeontology-themed image competition, where the winning 12 images form our TMS calendar for 2024.

This year’s competition is now open so please submit your images: https://forms.gle/4De469WLJxNKju6BA!

To submit an image, please fill in the form before Tuesday the 18th of July 2023 at 2359 Pacific Time. Late entries will not be accepted. To submit an image, you must be a TMS member. Join here: https://www.tmsoc.org/membership/

12 lucky winners will get their images included in the TMS calendar, decorating laboratories and homes all over the world (with your contact details on it if you wish!).

Prizes:

-1 TMS calendar for each of the 12 winners

-150 euros for the first-place image

-50 euros for the second-place image

Images have no standard form – we’ve had everything from SEMs, CT scan reconstructions, images of lasered forams to paintings and images in other artistic media. One year we even had an image of a coccolithophore lamp made out of clay! As long as you’re submitting an organism which can be categorised into a microfossil group, you’re all good. Micropalaeo-geochem hybrid scientists are most welcome to send in images. If you need inspiration, look at previous years’ submissions on our Flickr feed! https://www.flickr.com/photos/128916312@N03/albums.

The winning 12 images are selected by TMS committee members: a mix of early career and senior scientists from a variety of institutions and geographic locations. These images are then shared with our members and the wider community via our Facebook site for selection of the first and second place images. Images are anonymised. The publicity officer who-ordinates the competition will not take part in the judging process.

A few notes:

– The information associated with the image should be easily understood by a general public member (test out your blurb on a family member if you aren’t sure!)

– Do not include anything within the blurb which might identify you, for example, a sample site or laboratory location where your image was taken. This ensures that judging is anonymous. If you are selected as a winner, you will be able to refine your blurb.

– Images should preferably be high resolution (300dpi) PNG/JPEG/TIFF files, or if sent at a lower resolution, entrants should be able to produce a higher resolution image if selected as a winner.

If you have any questions email the publicity officer, Jaime Y. Suárez-Ibarra.

Do not forget to have your membership active!

Looking forward to your submissions!

TMS Calendar Image Competition 2023

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Do you have an amazing SEM image, CT scan, or other kinds of art?
We will be launching the TMS Image Competition soon, so prepare your microfossils/living organisms images to be part of our next TMS Calendar!

Save the date: TMS Annual Conference 2023, 15-17th November, University of Southampton!

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We are delighted to announce that the 2023 Annual Conference will be hosted by the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre from 15th to 17th November 2023. Workshops and an icebreaker will be held on Wednesday 15th with the conference taking place on the 16th and 17th. If you would like to propose a workshop, please contact Bhakti (our Events Secretary) at events@tmsoc.org. More information will be circulated in the coming weeks, but we hope many of you will be able to join us.

Celebrate #WomenInMicropalaeontology – 11/02/23

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This year, our social media team wants to keep our TMS commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and to kick things off, we welcome the first edition of #WomenInMicropalaeontology! This campaign is a continuation of our previous #IAmAMicropaleontologist.

This TMS initiative aims to empower and inspire women (cis, trans and non-binary alike) from the current and next generations by highlighting #WomenInMicropalaeontology during International Women and Girls in Science Day (February 11th). Representation, role models and mentoring are extremely important to diversify the Geosciences and break the #GlassCeiling women face in the society and science. We expect this initiative to help build (new) networks between and within #WomenInMicropalaeontology.

We invite #WomenInMicropalaeontology to participate in this campaign in two ways:

Fill out this form https://forms.gle/oPHaAhCu2B3qHWdV7 with a short text about you and include some pictures, if you like, before February 1st, 2023. We will post them on our official Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. If it is easier, you can send us a video!

or..

Make a Post on your personal Twitter or Instagram accounts or in our Facebook group, telling us about you, your roots, work, etc., and include some photos, if desired. If you feel like recording a video, it is also welcome! Tag us and add the hashtags #WomenInMicropalaeontology & #TMSoc; we will proudly share it from our Social Media Channels!

On February 11, we will post your photos and short bios and/or share your posts if you tag us. Other members can help broadcast this campaign by re-sharing the posts, reacting, and leaving some nice comments.

We are excited to see your contributions, and stay tuned for our next DEI campaigns!

TMS Social Media Team (Sofía Barragán-Montilla & Jaime Y. Suárez-Ibarra)

Call for 2023 TMS AGM Host

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We’re still looking for volunteers to host the 2023 Annual Conference in November 2023!

If you are interested in hosting the AGM then please contact events@tmsoc.org. Information on previous TMS AGMs is available here.

2023 TMS Calendar – SOLD OUT

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The 2023 TMS Calendar has sold out and is no longer available to purchase. Thank you to everyone that has bought one and supported the society and apologies to those that missed out!

Happy Holidays!

TMS Calendars 2023

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The 2023 TMS calendar features twelve fantastic microfossil images which were sent in by members and were voted on. The best twelve photographs/montages are featured in the calendar, which Publicity Officer Leeza Pickering expertly put together.

The calendars will be available for delivery from around 21st November. The price per calendar is £10.00 plus postage and packing.

To order:

  • For UK purchasers, please remit £12.50 (this is £10 plus £2.50 postage and packing)
  • For purchasers in continental Europe and Ireland, please remit £13.50 (£10 plus £3.50 postage and packing)
  • For purchasers from the rest of the world, please remit £14.00 (£10 plus £4.00 postage and packing)
You can pay using PayPal:
(please select your postage option – you can pay by card by selecting the “pay without a PayPal account” button)
Post to UK £12.50 GBP Post to Europe £13.50 GBP Rest of World £14.00 GBP

OR you can make a direct payment to our (Barclays) bank account:
Sort code: 20 80 14
Account number: 60214825
IBAN: GB23 BARC 2080 1460 2148 25

Please support the society, and the twelve photographers, and buy one: you will be reminded every day just why you love micropalaeontology

When you have paid, please email Jim Riding (jbri@bgs.ac.uk), with your mailing address and how many calendars you have ordered, and you will be sent your calendar(s) post-haste!

This is strictly a limited edition (100 only) so place your order very soon!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT (AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!)