In the spring of 2018, we organized the first Spring Pollen Seminar (SPS) at the Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS). A small group of Quaternary palynologists from Nanjing attended the seminar (photos 1), including Prof. Weiming Wang, the vice president of the International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS). 15 participants heard talks on palynological research from South Korea (by Bing Song), northeastern China (by Lydia Mackenzie) and a general introduction on collaborative research between China and Australia (by Limi Mao). Inspired by the cherry blossoms (mainly Prunus × yedoensis, P. serrulata, and some other varieties) lining the road between NIGPAS and Xuanwu Lake the seminar participants also enjoyed a walk to view the beautiful flowers after the seminar on Mar 21, 2020 (photos 2.1, 2.2).
Photo 1. All participants attended 1st SPS at NIGPAS meeting room
Photo 2.1. Cherry blossoms lining the road between NIGPAS and Xuanwu Lake
Photo 2.2. Cherry blossoms lining the road between NIGPAS and Xuanwu Lake: from left to right, Limi Mao, Jinglian Ge, Haochen Pan, Lydia Makenzie, Bing Song, Wei Chen, Junwu Shu
In its second year at NIGPAS the SPS attracted 59 attendees to hear 7 presentations, including an interesting study by Dr. Zhongjing Cheng on Anthropogenic modification of vegetated landscapes in southern China from 6,000 years ago, published in nature geoscience (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0250-1). The seminar also included a hands-on workshop for Early Career Researchers (photo 3) to learn how to photograph pollen and spores using a CCD camera and software including Photoshop, Image J, nEO iMAGING and MS Publisher to produce pollen plates for publication. Additionally, a discussion panel (photo 4) concluded the seminar with researchers from different career stages sharing their opinions on hot-topics in palynology, including challenges facing theoretical palynology in subtropical and tropical areas of China and the impact of human disturbance during the Holocene on vegetation changes.
Photo 3. Hands-on workshop for Early Career Researchers (lectures by Limi Mao at NIGPAS)
Photo 3. A discussion panel: researchers from different career stages (from left to right: Kangyou Huang, Junwu Shu, Deke Xu, Xiaozhong Huang, Qinghai Xu, Chengyu Weng, Yiman Fang)
Special memorial gift for speakers made from SEM pollen grains by Limi Mao: an example gift to Lydia Mackenzie who also took this pollen specimen (Dolichandrone spathacea) from Queensland Herbarium
The logo of 3rd SPS for online meeting on May 16, 2020 (The 3rd SPS was previously scheduled on Mar 20-21, 2020 at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, where Lydia Mackenzie and Yiman Fang are based, however it didn’t happen due to sad story of global pandemic)
With spring just around the corner and the global pandemic affecting scientific conferences around the world the organizers of this year’s Spring Pollen Seminar were faced with either cancelling or moving the conference online. We decided to call palynoloigsts from China and some other countries to measure the possibility of online meeting, and finally the seminar was successfully moved online (Tencent meeting). Suddenly everyone could attend the seminar and invited speakers from China, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands joined the event (photos 6 and 7).
Photo 6. Huasheng Huang’s talk from University of Amsterdam on Eocene pollen record of palm
Photo 7. Liang-Chi Wang talked from National Chung Cheng University on his recent study “Late Holocene vegetation, climate, and natural disturbance records from an alpine pond in central Taiwan”
On May 16th over 200 palynologists from China and some other countries met online to attend and share their research at the 3rd Spring Pollen Seminar. Invited talks from researchers at all levels highlighted the important and significant research conducted across the country and abroad! Over 6 hours attendees heard 15 talks including a keynote presentation by Dr. Xinying Zhou on their recent work investigating a 5,200-year-old archaeological site in northern China published in nature plants (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-019-0581-y ). The 200+ attendees heard talks focusing on pollen morphology, Quaternary vegetation history, pollen-based climate reconstructions and modelling, marine palynology, archaeopalynology, Eocene fossil pollen data, and phytolith analysis.
In the 3rd SPS the brief history and status of Quaternary palynology in China was also reviewed by Dr. Limi Mao, with a summary of past and present PhD theses focusing on palynology to highlight the important contribution to the field by Chinese graduate students at home and abroad (Figure 1). Quaternary palynology is still a relatively young science in China with PhD graduates increasing since the 1990s. Past PhD theses have focused on Quaternary palynology, reconstructing pollen-based vegetation histories and past climatic change.
Figure 1. Overview of PhD theses by Chinese in Quaternary pollen analysis through time
Like the 2nd SPS the online meeting also ended in an exchange of ideas and discussion around current challenges facing the discipline. We hope the discussion and sharing of ideas will lead to advances in palynological science, and further collaboration between palynologists in China and abroad. Hope to meet again next spring for the 4th Spring Pollen Seminar and enjoy the cherry blossoms and some other beautiful spring flowers in China! We also warmly welcome international colleagues to join our future seminars, either online or in person.
More information on the talks and news (but in Chinese) on the seminars can be found below:
1. The 1st Spring Pollen Seminar 2018.3.21
2. The 2nd Spring Pollen Seminar 2019.3.22-23
3. The 3rd Spring Pollen Seminar 2020.5.16 (moved online due to global pandemic)
4. Brief news on the 3rd Spring Pollen Seminar (in Chinese)
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to all the speakers for their wonderful talks. Olympus and Leica microscope selling agencies are thanked for lending new model microscopes for onsite use to take pollen photos during the training course, and for providing notebooks and pens as gifts for attendees. Technicians Limei Feng and Xuansi Zhang are thanked for showing how to make a standard pollen slides.