ISO19 Report

The 19th International Symposium on Ostracoda

The 19th International Symposium on Ostracoda was organized by Marie-Béatrice Forel, Vincent Perrier and Sylvie Crasquin at the University Claude Bernard, Lyon (France) from July 18th to 22nd 2022. The organizers chose as theme of the symposium “Back to life” as a wish after years of pandemic. As a matter of fact, the best fitting theme would have been “Against all odds” because the organizers had to deal with a global pandemic, a war, one of the worst heat waves of the 21st century and several air traffic strikes. To cope with all these issues, they decided to offer the free attendance online. Thus, the symposium gathered together research scientists from all continents, from disciplines ranging from biology to geology, and with expertise on all geological periods from the Cambrian to the present. The 19th ISO has been the first hybrid conference in the history of ostracodology!

On Monday, the scientific sessions started at the Amphitheatre Depéret, Building Charles Darwin. Prof. Emanuela Mattioli welcomed all of us as micropalaeontologist and former Head of the Geology Department of the University Lyon 1, followed by the Chair of IRGO, Moriaki Yasuhara, and the organizer of the conference and vice Chair of IRGO, Vincent Perrier. On Monday, 23 of the 51 oral presentations were presented in the session “Origin and evolution of ostracods: Crustacean and ostracod evolution, origin and taxonomy of fossil ostracods”. The presentations were both live and recorded in advance by the ostracodologists attending online. The lunch at the University “staff restaurant” was a nice surprise: well organized, fast and delicious!

The icebreaker party that followed the first day of talks was a reunion of good friends, finally gathering in person in a relaxed atmosphere full of expectations for the forthcoming days.

On Tuesday, the last 5 talks of the first session started the morning, followed by 21 presentations within the sessions “Pleistocene non-marine Ostracoda”, “Ostracod biogeography and biodiversity: studies on the geographical and temporal distribution of fossil and Recent ostracods” and “Ecology and biology of Recent ostracods: new advances in the ecology and biology of Recent marine and freshwater ostracods”. During coffee breaks we had the opportunity to visit the poster session and check the 47 posters while enjoying pastries, coffees and fresh juices. There was also the opportunity to buy ostracods treasures at the O-bazaar in support of IRGO: magnets, key holders, crocheted ostracods together with literature brought by many colleagues.

On Wednesday the Mid-Symposium excursion took place. We sampled one paleo meander of the Rhône River under the lead of the charming Emeritus Professor Pierre Marmonier. His enthusiasm was so contagious that we found many living ostracods, more than expected. We had our packed lunch in the medieval walled village of Pérouges, one of the most beautiful villages of France. The ostracodologist “invasion” of the village lasted about one hour because we had to end our trip at the Hameau Duboeuf. It is Europe’s first wine theme park that hosts a collection of objects related to the history of winemaking but also interesting videos and a spectacular dynamic cinema simulator of a flight over the landscape of the Beaujolais and Mâconnais regions. The wine tasting ended a wonderful mid symposium fieldtrip.

Thursday saw all the participants back to the Amphitheatre Depéret for the last day of scientific presentations. Twenty-five talks within the sessions “Ecology and biology of Recent ostracods: new advances in the ecology and biology of Recent marine and freshwater ostracods”, “Ostracods in the Anthropocene: Ostracods as proxies for environmental monitoring and paleoenvironmental reconstruction” and “Methods in ostracodology: new or advanced methods for the study of ostracods”. The day ended with the social dinner at Bocuse brasserie le Nord, the first of Bocuse brasseries opened in 1994, for a tasting of the traditional dishes and wines of Lyon. It was also Vincent’s birthday, so we had double reasons to celebrate!

Although the symposium itself, with the oral and poster presentations, ended on Thursday, the activities continued on Friday with two workshops: “Towards a standardized protocol in sampling and processing ostracods from soft bottom habitats”, organized by Peter Frenzel and Anna Pint and “The future of Ostracodology” organized by Marie-Béatrice Forel, Cristianini Trecastro Bergue and Moriaki Yasuhara. Such workshops are ideal for boosting new collaborations, projects and ideas!

After lunch, the IRGO business meeting took place. The IRGO committee considers the “Order of the Amphidont Hinge” as a recognition of research contributions characterized by both excellence and influence. The recipient of the first Order of the Amphidont Hinge was Professor David John Siveter. Vincent Perrier gave a laudation to David Siveter, highlighting his amazing research on Paleozoic ostracods all over the world and the celebrating his career. The second Order of the Amphidont Hinge was awarded to Professor Dan Danielopol. Angel Baltanas gave a laudation to Dan Danielopol (recorded video), celebrating his long career and commitment in advancing the knowledge about limnology, groundwater ecology and ostracodology, including morphometry.

The best poster award for a young researcher supported by IRGO (€ 100) was awarded to Kai Pfennings (Marine Research Department, Senckenberg am Meer, Germany) on 3D traits in ostracod shells. The Sylvester-Bradley Award for the best oral presentation supported by TMS (€ 200) was awarded to Mauricio Bonilla-Flores (Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany) for his talk on Tonnacypris.

Finally, the awardees of the three SF*IRGO travel grants (€ 1000 each) were asked on stage for recognition: Maria Bisquert Ribes (University of Valencia, Spain), Valentini Navrozidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) and Maria Tsoni (University of Patras, Greece).

The new IRGO officers were elected, and the new board officially installed (Chair Vincent Perrier; Vice-Chair Danpeng Xi; Secretary Mark Warne; Treasurer Renate Matzke-Karasz; Communication officer Simone Brandao; Past chair Moriaki Yasuhara) and the location of the ISO20 has been voted for. In four years’ time, we will meet in Bejing (China), invited by our colleagues Danpeng Xi and Moriaki Yasuhara.

The 3-day long post-symposium field trip was devoted to the sampling of living ostracods in Rhone River and in the wetlands of the Tour du Valat and the Mas du Sonnailler (rice fields) in the National Park of the Camargue.

 

Many thanks to Marie-Béatrice Forel, Vincent Perrier and their team for organizing such a successful symposium against all odds, moderating discussions and coping with audio/video issues never losing your kindness and the smile on your face!

 

Ilaria Mazzini, Rome

IRGO secretary 2017-2022

 

 

 

 

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