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Centre for Palynology Newsletter

December 2011

Editorial

The worldwide palynology community is relatively large with some 2500 palynologists listed in the

latest International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS) ‘Directory of Palynologists’. A

surprisingly high proportion of this community is comprised of palynologists that were trained at the

University of Sheffield. This ‘Sheffield Palynology Community’ consists of over 300 students to date,

who since 1955 have graduated with a Ph.D., M.Phil. or M.Sc. Ex-Sheffield palynologists regularly

bump into one another at conferences, and many still visit the Centre for Palynology, to examine

collections, use the library or simply for a chat. Not surprisingly these palynologists are keen to know

what is happening in Sheffield and eager for news of old colleagues. This has prompted us to initiate

a ‘Centre for Palynology’ newsletter. We hope to publish this annually in December and to distribute

it via e-mail and the web to all interested members of the Sheffield Palynology Community. The aim

is to update people on what is happening at Sheffield, but also to provide a forum for

communication among ex-Sheffield palynologists. We hope that the next issue(s) will contain

numerous updates on the activities of the huge number of palynologists that have passed through

Sheffield over the years.

We have gathered e-mail addresses for as many Sheffield palynologists as possible—but couldn’t

track down all of you. Please let me know if you wish to be removed from this distribution list or if

you have an address of anyone that has been omitted. In the meantime—have a great 2012. And

now to find out what is happening with respect to Sheffield palynology at present…

Current Sheffield palynologists. From left to right: Brian Pedder, Steve Ellin, Janine Pendleton, Sam

Slater, Faisal Abuhmida, Simon Wallace, Doreen Mkuu, Charles Wellman

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Organization

Following the closure of the Department of Earth Sciences in 2000 the Centre for Palynology was

transferred to the Department of Animal & Plant Sciences (APS). Nowadays all palynological activity

is conducted within APS, including undergraduate teaching, postgraduate training and research.

Recent staff changes include the departure of David Jolley to the University of Aberdeen and the

departure of Duncan McLean and David Bodman to set up their own company ‘MB Stratigraphy’ that

is based in Sheffield. Charles Wellman, Steve Ellin and the palynology postgraduates remain in APS,

with Bernard Owens remaining as a very active Emeritus Professor.

Undergraduate teaching

Over the last few years palaeontology has become increasingly incorporated into teaching of the

Biology and Environmental Science undergraduate degrees. Take up has been excellent and the

courses extremely popular. In the 2010-2011 academic year the Level 2 course “APS269:

Palaeobiology” attracted 111 students and the Level 3 course “APS341: Evolution of terrestrial

ecosystems” attracted 96 students. Both courses are taught by Charles Wellman--and contain more

than a hint of palynology.

A number of final year Level 3 (B.Sc.) and Level 4 (M.Biol. Sci.) students also elect to undertake

projects and dissertations in palaeontology. This year four Level 3 students undertook projects

examining Jurassic megaspores from the Yorkshire coast. Examination by light, scanning electron

and transmission electron microscopy was used to demonstrate that the megaspores were of

lycopsid affinity. The Level 4 project student, Scott Richards-Jones, is working on the palynology of

the Silurian deposits of the Ringerike Group from the Oslo Graben.

Annually each department in the UK that teaches palaeontology awards a Palaeontology Association

Undergraduate Award. Congratulations to one of our most recent recipients Tom Stubbs who scored

highest in APS341 and also was awarded a 1st class mark for his Level 3 project work on

Carboniferous megaspores from the Bristol Coalfield. Tom went on to study for a master’s degree on

the University of Bristol ‘M.Sc. in Palaeobiology’ and has now embarked on a Ph.D. research project.

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Graduating PhDs

We have had a number of Ph.D students successfully complete in recent years:-

Issam Al Barram was awarded a Ph.D. following his viva voce exam in January 2009. Issam’s Ph.D.

was entitled “Palynology and palynofacies of the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) – Permian

(Cisuralian) Al Khlata Formation from central and south Oman” and was supervised jointly by Charles

Wellman and Mike Stephenson (BGS). Issam’s research was funded by PDO. Bernard Owens was the

internal examiner and Geoff Clayton (Trinity College Dublin) the external examiner. Issam has

returned to Oman where he has taken up the position of Stratigrapher/Palynologist with PDO.

Khaled Gaddah was awarded a Ph.D. following his viva voce exam in December 2009. Khaled’s Ph.D.

was entitled “Palynology of the Cretaceous deposits of the southeast Sirt Basin, Libya” and was

supervised by Charles Wellman. Khaled’s research was sponsored by the Libyan Education Ministry.

Bernard Owens was the internal examiner and Ian Harding (University of Southampton) the external

examiner. Khaled has returned to Libya where he has taken up the position of

Straigrapher/palynologist with Waha Oil Company

Mutasam Al-Ghammari was awarded a Ph.D. following his viva voce exam in November to

December 2010 (this was a particularly torrid time for Mutasam as the viva was twice postphoned at

the last minute due to heavy snow fall!). Mutasam’s Ph.D. was entitled “Palynology of the

Ordovician-Silurian deposits of Oman” and was jointly supervised by Charles Wellman and Stewart

Molyneux (BGS). Mutasam’s research was sponsored by PDO, Oman. Bernard Owens was the

internal examiner and John Marshall (University of Southampton) the external examiner. Mutasam

has returned to Oman where he has taken up the position of Stratigrapher/Palynologist with PDO.

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Current PhDs

Ph.D. students in palynology as of 2011. From left to right: Brian Pedder, Janine Pendleton, Sam

Slater, Faisal Abuhmida, Simon Wallace, Doreen Mkuu.

Faisal Abuhmida has just started the fourth and final year of his Ph.D. working on the palynology of

the Ordovician-Silurian of the Murzuk Basin, Libya. Faisal’s research is funded by the Libyan

Petroluem Inststute and is supervised by Charles Wellman.

Brian Pedder is also in the fourth and final year of his Ph.D. research. He is working on Cambrian

acritarchs from Laurentia. Brian’s research is funded by a NERC Open CASE award with the Natural

History Museum, London. He is jointly supervised by Charles Wellman and Suzanne Feist-Burkhardt

and Tim Potter at the NHM, London.

Janine Pendleton is yet another Ph.D. student in the fourth and final year. She is working on the

palynology and palaeobotany of the Coal Measures of the Bristol Coalfield. Janine’s research is

funded by a NERC CASE award with the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. She is jointly supervised

by Charles Wellman and Chris Cleal (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff). Chris, of course, was a

Sheffield Geology undergraduate and postgraduate, who undertook a Ph.D. on Carboniferous

palaeobotany supervised by Bob Wagner in the 1980s.

Simon Wallace is in the third year of his Ph.D. research. Simon is working on the molecular genetics

of spore wall formation in extant model plant (moss) Physcomitrella. He is jointly supervised by Andy

Fleming, Charles Wellman and David Beerling (all of the Dept. of Animal & Plant Sciences of the

University of Sheffield). Simon’s research forms an exciting collaboration between the palynological

and molecular research in the department.

Sam Slater began his Ph.D. in October. Sam is working an Middle Jurassic terrestrial palynology

based on a mixture of classic UK sites, offshore North Sea Basin material and comparative material

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from the Southern Hemisphere. Sam’s Ph.D. is a NERC CASE award with Shell and is jointly

supervised by Charles Wellman and Iain Prince and Cat Burgess of Shell.

Doreen Mkuu began an M.Phil. in October working on the Cenozoic palynology of Tanzania. Doreen

is a palynologist working for the Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation who are funding

the research. Many of you will remember Doreen and she worked in the Centre for Palynology

during two study visits in 1991 and 1994 when she undertook short training courses.

Laboratory News

The Palynology Laboratory in the basement of the Dainton Building is running smoothly under the

supervision of Steve Ellin. Throughput is much less than most of you will remember in the absence of

M.Sc. project work and substantial industrial work. Nonetheless we are processing over one

thousand samples per annum to feed staff research, Ph.D. research projects and undergraduate

student projects.

Steve beavering away in the palynology laboratory.

Collections News

As you are all aware, the collections of the Centre for palynology are vast. They include the rock,

residues, slides and SEM stubs representing in excess of 300 Ph.D., M.Phil. and M.Sc. theses, in

addition to teaching collections, staff research projects and more than a little consultancy. We also

have inherited other collections, such as that of Jane Gray (university of Oregon, USA) and much of

the material associated with now defunct Aberystwyth palynology group.

Steve Ellin has undertaken a magnificent job in maintaining this collection over the last few years.

Those who have visited to view type specimens etc. will appreciate his personal in depth knowledge

of the collections. We are now in the position to revamp the collections. As these collections

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burgeoned over the years they have been stored in a variety of places and in a variety of media,

particularly following the 1997 move from St Georges to the Dainton Building.

We are now in the position to start consolidating the collections and have begun assembling them in

a dedicated collections room. Here we have started to rehouse the slide collections in a standardized

slide storage system based on standard slide boxes. We have also begun to assemble an electronic

catalogue of all of the stored materials. We will keep you all updated on progress.

Library news

The Palynology Library continues to grow with the addition of new reprints, journals and books, in

addition to collections passed on to us by former students and staff. Bernard Owens is currently in

the process of transferring much of his vast reprint collection into the Palynology Library while

maintaining the electronic database. We have just exceeded 20,000 reprints recorded electronically

in the database.

Congratulations to Bernard Owens

We were all absolutely delighted when Bernard was awarded Honorary Memberships of AASP-The

Palynological Society during the recent AASP annual meeting held in Southampton (UK) in

September. This award was bestowed upon Bernard in recognition of his life-long commitment to

the society and his role in fostering the science of palynology worldwide.

Bernard remains emeritus professor and visits the centre regularly. Usually he brings with him a boot

full of reprints and boxes of single grain mounts as he continues to incorporate his extensive

collection into those of the centre. Bernard is also very active with the Ph.D. students and acts as our

in house Ph.D. internal examiner.

Bernard receiving his award at the AASP annual meeting in Southampton

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Publications 2011

Falcon-Lang, H. J., Pendleton, J. L. & Wellman, C. H. 2011. Dryland plant communities in the Pennsylvanian (late Bolsovian) Winterbourne Formation of Bristol, southern Britain: further evidence for taphonomic megabias. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 166, 268-285.

Fraser, W. T., Beerling, D. J., James, D. I., Lomax, B. H., Self, S., Sephton, M. A., Watson, J. S., Wellman, C. H. & Callaghan, T. V. 2011. UV-B absorbing pigments in spores: biochemical responses to shade in a Swedish birch forest. Polar Research 30

Parry, S. F., Noble, S. R., Crowley, Q. G. & Wellman, C. H. 2011. A high precision U-Pb age constraint on the Rhynie Chert Konservat-Lagerstatte: time scale and other implications. Journal of the Geological Society, London 168, 863-872.

Strother, P. K., Battison, L., Brasier, M. D. & Wellman, C. H. 2011. Earth’s earliest non-marine eukaryotes. Nature 473, 505-509.

Taylor, W. A., Gensel, P. G. & Wellman, C. H. 2011. Wall ultrastructure in three species of the spore Emphanisporites from the Early Devonian. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 163, 264-280.

Wallace, S., Fleming, A., Wellman, C. H. & Beerling, D. J. 2011. Evolutionary development of the plant spore and pollen wall. AoB PLANTS 2011 pir027 doi:10.1093/aobpla/pir027 19 pp.

Meetings attended 2011

Members of the Centre for Palynology have attended a number of meetings this year and presented

a variety of talks and posters (many of you will have witnessed these). Below is a list:-

AASP-The Palynological Society 44th Annual Meeting (Southampton, UK) [Abuhmida, Pedder,

Owens, Pendleton, Wellman]

International Botanical Congress (Melbourne, Australia) [Wellman]

Linnean Society Palaeobotany Specialist Group Annual Meeting (London, UK) [Mkuu, Pedder,

Pendleton, Slater, Wellman]

Linnean Society Palynology Specialist Group Annual Meeting (London, UK) [Mkuu, Pedder,

Pendleton, Slater, Wellman]

Palaeontology Association 55th Annual Meeting (Plymouth, UK) [Slater, Pendleton, Wellman]

Fieldwork 2011

This year has seen a number of collecting trips. Janine Pendleton has undertaken several trips to the

Bristol Coalfield collecting both palynological and palaeobotanical samples and visiting museum

collections. Sam Slater organised his first visit to the Jurassic of the Yorkshire coast, unfortunately

during the snows and hurricanes of the first week of December. Fortunately he survived relatively

intact. Charles Wellman spent a very wet May collecting the Torridonian of Scotland with Paul

Strother (Boston). Later in July he visited the Channel Country of central Australia with Willy Taylor

(Wisconsin), Linda Graham (Wisconsin) and Louise Lewis (Storres). They examined this modern ‘Old

Red Sandstone analogue’ with respect to modern terrestrial algal remains.

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Janine holding up the trains as she examines Bristol Coalfield exposures exposed in Brunel’s Great

Western Railway cutting at Winterbourne

Visitors

We have had a number of visitors to the department in 2011—undertaking joint research, examining

collections, or just for a social visit. These include Phil Donoghue (University of Bristol), Barry Lomax

(University of Nottingham), Awad Ibrahim and Ali Ahmed Eisawi (Sudan), Paul Strother (Boston

College) and are very own Ted Spinner.

Ali Ahmed Eisawi and Awad Ibrahim with Charles Wellman on their recent visit to the Centre for Palynology

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Christmas party

The 2012 Christmas party was held on 13th December, as usual, at the Red Deer. I will not elaborate

other than to say that not much changes (including the Red Deer and the party attended by 16

palynologists who all had a jolly good time).

The Christmas party 2011

A plea for information and to keep in touch…

Please keep in touch (e-mail c.wellman@sheffield.ac.uk) and keep us updated with respect to your

contact details. Please let me know if you wish to be removed from our e-mail list. And most

importantly--please send in your alumni news for the next newsletter.