We’d love to see you at our Spring Meeting at UCC on 25 March! The theme is Quaternary Research and its Societal Impact and the meeting will be followed by our annual AGM. Can’t wait to see you there!
Invitation: IQUA Spring Meeting 2023
We are inviting you to our 2023 Spring Meeting at UCC on 25 March. The meeting is centered around Quaternary Research and its Societal Impact, focuses on showcasing researchers near the beginning of their careers, and will include our annual AGM. Abstracts can be sent to Michelle McKeown (mmckeown@ucc.ie) by the 3rd of March.
IQUA Spring Meeting 2023
We are announcing our spring 2023 meeting! It will be hosted at University College Cork (UCC) on 25 March, and will include our annual AGM. More details to follow, but for now, make sure to save the date. Abstracts can be sent to Michelle McKeown (mmckeown@ucc.ie) by the 3rd of March. Looking forward to seeing all of you there!
Spring 2022: IQUA emerges from lockdown
It’s been a busy Spring, but an energising one – just as Spring should be.
Susann Stolze organised an excellent field meeting in Sligo, with a focus on the Neolithic. The stunning landscape was shown at its best thanks to a spell of lovely weather, but the trip was made a success by a combination of great sites and good company. A big bualadh bos to Susann, all the contributors and all the participants for making this such a successful event.
IQUA postgrad reps Ryan Smazal and Adrienne Foreman, aided by Treasurer Mark Coughlan, organised a well-attended Early Career Researcher workshop in Belfast on Friday the 29th of April 2022, supported by IQUA. The event was facilitated by Maarten Blaauw (QUB) and Niamh Cahill (U. Maynooth) and well-attended by 15 postgrads from Ireland and Britain (including at least seven nationalities by my reckoning). Many thanks to all the organisers and participants – it is wonderful to see the vibrant next generation of researchers coming through and having opportunities to meet each other.
The IQUA Spring Meeting and AGM were held in Belfast on Saturday the 30th of April 2022. The meeting included seven excellent talks (five of which by postgraduate students) and four poster presentations. The Best Postgraduate Presentation Prize was awarded to David O’Leary (NUIG) for his engaging and informative talk on “Digital soil mapping of peatlands using airborne radiometric data and supervised machine learning”. Well done all, but most especially the postgrads, for the stimulating presentations and interactions – again, it was a very pleasant change to mingle with real people! The meeting had a strong showing from IQUA early career members, and some remote engagement via MS Teams. A special thanks to Sarah Ferrandin, Helen Essell and Gosse Bootsma (all QUB) for invaluable behind-the-scenes assistance.
IQUA spring meeting 2022 at Queen’s Univeristy Belfast
The Irish Quaternary Association Spring Meeting 2022 will be held in person at the Elmwood Building at Queen’s University Belfast on Saturday the 30th April. Registration will commence at 9:30am.
The meeting is open to all and will consist of short (20 minute) presentations on any area of new or ongoing Quaternary research. Postgraduate and post-doctoral students are especially welcome and are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to present in an informal and friendly setting. Both oral and poster presentations are invited and there will be a prize for the best postgraduate talk.
Please send abstracts of c. 200 words to Graeme Swindles g.swindles@qub.ac.uk, indicating poster or talk.
The meeting will be followed by the IQUA AGM on the Saturday afternoon.
There will be a small fee to pay to cover at least some of the expenses related to the meeting and to support further IQUA’s activities. The fee will be €10/€5 for members and students/concessions respectively and €20 for non-members. Payments in £GBP will also be accepted.
IQUA spring meeting 2021 programme and secondary teaching aid launch
Our upcoming Spring meeting is on next week on Friday the 16th.
The meeting is free to attend, and starts at 10am (zoom link below). The AGM will occur after the talks, sometime around 12:45. The programme schedule is below.
The meeting will also feature the official launch of our post primary teaching resource “Shaping the Landscape”. IQUA developed this teaching and learning resource sponsored by The Heritage Council, Geological Survey Ireland and Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. The lesson plan is the first 2nd level teaching aid for Quaternary Science in Ireland and was developed in an iterative process between teachers, geological survey staff (north and south) and IQUA committee members. The instructional aid, composed of an 8 pages of Study Notes accompanied by a 4 pages student Workbook is focused at 2nd level geography, earth science students and future undergraduates and is available to download at http://iqua.ie/outreach-and-education-resources/Looking forward to seeing you all at the meeting. Zoom link: https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/j/64483215289
Cancellation of IQUA spring meeting and AGM 2020
Due to the ongoing sanitary crisis linked with the Covid-19 virus outbreak, the decision has been made to cancel our spring meeting and AGM due to take place on the 28th of March 2020 at Queen’s University Belfast.
Thank you for your consideration. Stay safe and we’ll let you know as soon as we organise a new event on the other side of this outbreak.
IQUA spring meeting 2020 at Queen’s Univeristy Belfast
The Irish Quaternary Association Spring Meeting 2020 will be held at the Elmwood Building at Queen’s University Belfast on Saturday the 28th March. Registration will commence at 9:30am.
The meeting is open to all and will consist of short (20 minute) presentations on any area of new or ongoing Quaternary research. Postgraduate and post-doctoral students are especially welcome and are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to present in an informal and friendly setting. Both oral and poster presentations are invited and there will be a prize for the best postgraduate talk.
Please send abstracts of c. 200 words to Graeme Swindles g.swindles@qub.ac.uk, indicating poster or talk.
The meeting will be followed by the IQUA AGM on the Saturday afternoon.
There will be a small fee to pay to cover at least some of the expenses related to the meeting and to support further IQUA’s activities. The fee will be €10/€5 for members and students/concessions respectively and €20 for non-members. Payments in £GBP will also be accepted.
Ireland and the Ice Age: a public event
IQUA is delighted to invite you all to our upcoming public event; a set of talks for the general public on Ireland and the Ice Age. The event will take place on Saturday the 13th of April 2019 from 4 to 6pm in the auditorium at the National Botanical Garden in Galsnevin, Dublin.
The seminar will be chaired by the acclaimed journalist and author Lorna Siggins and will feature talks catered for the general public.
Prof Peter Coxon from Trinity College Dublin will talk about the Irish Landscape before the Ice Age and the changes that occured because of it.
Prof John Sweeney from Maynooth University will delve into the evolution of the climate that triggered and followed the Ice Age.
Dr Bethan Davies of Royal Holloway University in London will explore the importance of teaching the events of this time period, the Quaternary, and the influence it has on our modern world.
The seminar will also feature the official launch of a new IQUA booklet entitled “Giants of Irish Quaternary Science“. This publication contains profiles of a cross-section of scientists who made seminal contributions to the understanding of the Quaternary landscapes of Ireland. An associated pull-up banner exhibition on 10 of these figures will also be launched and on display.
This is a free event but registration is necessary due to limited places. To register please click here.
Associated with this event, a tour of the Herbarium in the Botanic Gardens by Dr Colin Kelleher will take place at 2:30 pm and will be repeated at 3pm. The visit will focus on Alpine species of Ireland and their arrival in Ireland after the Ice Age. The visit will only cater for a limited number of people and will operate on a first come first served basis. For those interested, please meet 5 minutes prior to either of the tour by the cafe entrance outside the visitor reception area.
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
The IQUA committee are pleased to confirm that ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: A Quaternary Science Retrospective’ will take place in the Hunt Museum on Saturday 21 April. This one day symposium will consist of a series of retrospective talks in celebration of key Quaternary scientists known for their trailblazing work investigating how the Irish landscape was shaped during and since the Ice Age. Please find poster below.
Alongside the day of talks, the Granary Library will feature a free family-friendly exhibition of extinct and contemporary Irish mammals on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 April from 11am – 5pm. Please find poster below.
Please feel free to bring these events to the attention of anyone you feel may find them of interest.
Logistics:
- The closest parking to the Hunt Museum and Granary Library can be found at the following link: https://www.parkopedia.ie/parking/carpark/potato_market/v94/limerick/?arriving=201804091130&leaving=201804091330
- A list of local accommodation is also below.
