41St Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquim At The Field

The program included a special symposium on Friday April 12 to celebrate the upcoming 70th birthday for Sir Peter Crane (see photos here). Peter has served the Field Museum in a variety of roles since the 1980s, including Curator of Paleobotany, Vice President and Director, and currently, Trustee. During his tenure as curator and Vice President, Peter built an internationally recognized paleobotany research program at the Museum and led major improvements to the curation of our extensive paleobotanical collections.On Saturday the celebrations continued with the 41st Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium (MPC). One of Peter’s early contributions as curator was to initiate this meeting in 1983, which was hosted that year at the Field. The MPC program on Saturday was a very full day with 23 presentations and 17 posters, enjoyed by 120 attendees from across the USA, Mexico, Panama, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, and China. On Sunday, April 14 attendees enjoyed a field trip to the famous Mazon Creek fossil area near Braidwood and Coal City. The birthday symposium included 11 presentations by former graduate students and postdocs and collaborators from throughout Peter’s career, including Susana Magallon, Rick Lupia, and Paul Kenrick. In addition, there were several recorded congratulations messages from colleagues who were not able to attend the conference. Tony Kirkham, former Director of the Arboretum at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was the after-dinner speaker.The organizers are especially thankful to Amanda Dick (Administrative Coordinator, Negaunee Integrative Research Center) for spearheading the logistics. The weekend was a success largely due to her hard work.
April 26. 2024