Dinoflagellate Protoperidinium divergens and resting on it the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi; recent specimens from a plankton sample from the Croatian Coast. Imaged by Luka Šupraha of Uppsala University, Sweden. ®©

Chair: Ingrid Romero (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA)
Secretary: Amalia Spina (University of Perugia, Italy)

Palynology is the study of all organic-walled palynomorphs that can be found in sedimentary archives, from acritarchs to dinoflagellate cysts, pollen, spores and non-pollen palynomorphs (including fungal spores, algae, etc.).

Palynology, from the Greek Paluno (sprinkle) and logy (study), aims at studying microscopic particles produced by plants such as pollen, spores as well as freshwater and marine algal cysts, and other types of palynomorphs such as acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, that can be found in the air, water or varied sediment deposits and for a variety of time scales. A wide range of subjects encompasses palynological studies, such as melissopalynology (study of honey), forensic palynology, pollen allergy, biostratigraphy, taxonomy and evolutionary studies, environmental studies including archaeology, palaeoecology and limnology, to cite a few.

Recent Palynology Posts

• Notice of Applied Biostratigraphy Workshop at EAGE 2026November 25, 2025
  We are running a one-day workshop titled “Applied Biostratigraphy – a critical tool for subsurface prediction and characterisation” at the EAGE annual conference in Aberdeen next year. The workshop will be on Monday June 8th. Conference home page: home – EAGE Annual 2026 Workshop page: Workshop 13 – EAGE Annual 2026 Mike… Read more: Notice of Applied Biostratigraphy Workshop at EAGE 2026
• EGU General Assembly 2026 – Formainifera SessionNovember 25, 2025
  We wish to draw your attention to a session we are convening at the upcoming European Geoscience Union (EGU) General Assembly 2026 in Vienna, Austria. As a co-chair, I, along with my fellow conveners, would be delighted to fully consider and support your submitted abstract and research for our session, entitled: “Harnessing… Read more: EGU General Assembly 2026 – Formainifera Session
• Call for Symposia and workshops – Paleo4Alps – Bolzano 19-23 luglio 2026November 20, 2025
  Paleo4Alps – Joint Meeting of the XXVI Paleodays Annual Meeting of the Società Paleontologica Italiana (SPI), the 97th Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft (PalGes), the 30th Annual Meeting of the Österreichische Paläontologische Gesellschaft (ÖPG) and the Meeting of the Swiss Palaeontological Society in Bolzano/Bozen (Italy) on 19-23.07.2026 We are pleased to announce the upcoming Joint… Read more: Call for Symposia and workshops – Paleo4Alps – Bolzano 19-23 luglio 2026
• Information on the next TMS Palynology Series talkNovember 20, 2025
  The next TMS Palynology Talk Speaker Series on Monday, November 24, at 10:00 am EST (3:00 pm GMT+1). Our next speaker will be Dr. Evelyn Kustatscher from the Tyrolean State Museums and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, talking about “The evolution of the Kungurian (Cisuralian) flora in the paleotropics (Southern Alps, Northern Italy)” The online… Read more: Information on the next TMS Palynology Series talk
• Proposals for Hosting the TMS AGM 2026October 9, 2025
  We invite proposals for hosting the TMS Annual General Meeting in November 2026. We are seeking interested institutions or universities to organize this important event of our society’s calendar. We encourage you to submit a proposal if your institution meets the following criteria: 1. Strong connection to micropaleontology research2. Capacity to accommodate 100-150… Read more: Proposals for Hosting the TMS AGM 2026