The Section has held a one day Seminar on a Saturday in March each year
The Seminar of 2015
The Speakers were:
Dr Dominic Papineau (London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Earth Sciences, University College London) - Evidence for early life in the Eo- and Paleo-Archaean
Professor N. J. Butterfield (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge) - Animals and the invention of the Phanerozoic Earth system
Dr Robert Sansom (Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester) - The origin of vertebrates and your fishy ancestors
Dr Tim Smithson (University Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge) - New tetrapods from Romer’s Gap: unrecorded diversity that laid the foundations of the modern fauna
Dr Pamela G. Gill (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol) - Coming out from the shadow of the dinosaurs; a new look at the first mammals
Dr Fiona Coward (Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science, Bournemouth University) - Being human Dr Michael Ellis (British Geological Survey, Keyworth) - The Anthropocene: geology and the human process
The Seminar of 2016
Planet of the Plants
The Speakers were:
Dr Richard Gornall, Director Botanic Gardens, University of Leicester Introduction to the diversity of Plants and Photosynthetic Organisms
Dr Jenny Morris, University of Sheffield Early land plants
Dr Christopher M Berry, University of Cardiff Rooted in Earth History: The Devonian Transition to a forested planet
Dr Leyla Seyfulla, University of Birmingham The Amber World
Dr Vanessa Bowman, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge Unveiling biotic change in Antarctica during the late Cretaceous and early Palaeogene
Prof David Beerling, University of Sheffield Enhanced rock weathering strategies for cooling the planet and saving coral reefs by 2100
The Seminar of 2017
The Geology of the Planets.
Those that spoke to the Section on the 11th March were:
Professor Andy Saunders (University of Leicester) - The Solar system
Jack Wright (School of Physical Sciences, Open University) - Planet Mercury: getting to know the problem child of the Solar System
Professor Sanjeev Gupta (Imperial College) - The adventures of Curiosity, robot field geologist, in Gale Crater, Mars
Dr Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester) - Realm of the Giants: Junos' exploration of Jupiter
Dr Susanne Schweizer (Open University) - Hypervelocity impacts, cratering of planetary surfaces and the aftermath
Jane Macarthur (Space Research Centre, University of Leicester) - Martian meteorites
The Seminar of 2018
The Middle Jurassic
The Rutland Dinosaur fifty years on: big feet in a small County
On the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Rutland Dinosaur, we focused on Middle Jurassic geology and fossils, but in particular, Sauropod Dinosaurs in a series of talks.
The Speakers were:
John Martin and Dr Mark Evans on the History of the Rutland Dinosaur;
Professor Paul Upchurch on Sauropod palaeobiology and feeding mechanics;
Professor John Hudson on Mid-Jurassic setting of the Rutland lagoons;
Elsa Panciroli on Mid-Jurassic Fauna from the Isle of Skye;
and Femka Holwerda on the place of Celiosaurus among the sauropods.
The Seminar of 2019
Geology under the Sea
Those that spoke at this seminar were:
Professor Sarah Davies (University of Leicester) Introduction to IODP research at Leicester and some history.
Professor Mike Lovell (University of Leicester) Ocean Drilling at Leicester: a brief history
Professor Bridget Wade (UCL) The microfossil time machine: reconstruction of climate and environments 34 millions of years ago
Dr Crispin T.S. Little (University of Leeds) A 3.77 (or possibly 4.28) billion-year history of life associated with marine hydrothermal vents
Dr Rebecca Bell (Imperial College London) Unlocking the secrets of slow slip, using next-generation seismic experiments and IODP drilling, at the north Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand
Dr Stephen Rippington (Astute Geoscience Ltd.) 11Sub-terra incognita: exploring the UK Atlantic Margin