PALYNOLOGY WEB SITES OF THE MONTH for 1998-99

Where's Melbourn

The Palynology Web Site of the Month for December, 1999 is the Centre for Palynology and Palaeoecology site at Monash University, Melbourn, Australia, group-lead by Peter Kershaw.

The site hosts I really like the database of Southeastern Australia surface samples prepared by Peter and by Donna D'Costa. It's the palynological equivalent of a dog's sniffing at pant legs. It provides a unique sense of what the area is like. I plan to add a similar feature to my own web site, and I hope that others do the same.



The month of November, 1999, features two web sites! Rather than get caught in a "Ford vs. Chevy" argument, I'll mention two web sites that provide software of interest to palynologists in particular, and biogstratigraphers in general. Kovach Computing Services provides software for both MAC and DOS platforms. The PAZ Software programs are written for the Macintosh platform. Both provide a host of full-featured programs for data analysis and data display.
I'll leave it up to you to visit the two sites shop for the software that is right for you. Here's a brief list (just five each!) of what's available at these two excellent and very useful sites.

Kovach Computing Services PAZ Software


http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/wesobs/PalyLab.html The Palynology Site of the Month for October, 1999. The instant Paul Strother's Weston Observatory web site loads, you know you're in for something special. We're not in the Quaternary any more, Toto. There's Zap Comics' Mr. Natural on the cover of "NATURE", pointing at a pile of brown acritarchs! (actually I'd a hundred times rather look at the light micrographs than false-color SEM's.) Paul's page is a mad cap tour of his extensive research program (just eight of the projects), plus a few news items covering future research, some links, and email addresses for the Weston Lab researchers. There's also a link to Paul's Boston College web site, which is less palynological. Of the many pages at this site, my personal favorite is the Grand Canyon page. Recall that the Grand Canyon in general and Grand Canyon palynology in particular are "causes" for the creationists. This may not be Kansas, but the real science on Paul's page is a welcome change from the other stuff that clogs the search engines. And, don't forget to read his NSF disclaimer!


Plate 24 The Palynology Site of the Month for September, 1999 is the Areawide Pest Management Research Unit (APMRU)'s pollen site created by Gretchen Jones.
     It hosts the most extensive collection of Scanning Electron Micrographs of pollen and spores on the web, and a whole lot more. It includes a techniques section for preparing insect-borne pollen. and links to other palynology sites on the internet. In addition to many light micrographs and SEM's. The taxonomic coverage is of Southeastern U.S.A.
     The light micrographs are arranged in a table, by family (71 families). Just click on the family name and a pollen grain pops up.
     To use the SEM's you need a copy of:
Jones, Gretchen D., et al. 1995.
Pollen of the Southeastern United States: With Emphasis on Melissopalynology and Entomology. The American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation.
[Order Here!] just $12.00!
     The mini-plates (see example above) link to larger images from the book. The example above is plate 24. Clicking on that image provides a larger image and for each grain, and a table entry of the book's micrograph no.; the plant family, genus, species, and authority; the grain's pollen class; and it's ornamentation. But, to find the grain in the first place, by its name, class, etc. you'll need the book.



The Palynology Site of the Month for August, 1999, is the APLF web page. The ASSOCIATION DES PALYNOLOGUES DE LANGUE FRANÇAISE (APLF) is one of several National an International linguistic and specialty organizations that promote palynology. The APLF hosted the 8th International Pollen Congress September 6-12, 1992 in Aix-en-Provence. The APLE site includes the addresses of it members. It is maintained by a team of mysterious international palyno-computer scientists.


http://hp.fciencias.unam.mx/Marslife-NASA/photos.htm The Palynology Site of the Month for July, 1999 is hosted by the Palynology Group of the British Micropaleontological Society BMSPG, and was created by Ian Boomer (University of Newcastle) and Giles Miller (Natural History Museum, London). This small, simple site hosts periodic notes on activities of the group, and links to other palynological sites. And, as a member of the British Micropaleontological Society, it includes links to several other kinds of microfossils, including Coccoliths, Conodonts, Foraminifera, Ostracods, and Siliceous Microfossils; as well as useful links to Universities, Museums, Micropaleontological Societies, Publishers, and Micropalaeontological companies



The Palynology Site of the Month for June, 1999 is hosted by the Institute for Quaternary Geology at Uppsala University, Sweden. They have produced a very large and very well-organized collection of photomicrographs of pollen that is available on the web. The introductory catalogue contains links to Pteridophytes Gymnosperms Angiosperms (dicots) and Angiosperms (monocots) as well as References to pollen identification literature. The format is simple and in English, and the server is fast! This is a wonderfully usefull, site containing many, many light micrographs of pollen grains. My hat's off the the folks who did us all this great service.


The Palynology Site of the Month for May, 1999 is Karl Reinhard's University of Nebraska Pollen Class Pages. Karl has done a terrific job of putting the basics of palynological instruction on the internet. The topics for GEO 996 Palynology Techniques include
  • Acetolysis
  • The "Pollen Wash" archeological technique.
    And, for GEO 446 - 846 there are illustrated lectures on
  • Pollen Aperatures and
  • Pollen Preservation
    among other topics. Karl's site gets my vote for the best palynology- education page on the internet. It's HTML format is simple and attractive, and it is accessable to everyone.


    manitoba The Palynology Site of the Month (one "page," actually) of the month for April, 1999 is The Manitoba Pollen Scum Page.
    "Palynology" is not a household word! So, I am very pleased to find this page that features pine pollen at an elementary level, including a clear description of pollen function. The Manitoba Environment, Water Quality Management Section has listed the pine pollen page between "swimmer itch" and "natural foam," but all three are treated accurately at a level accessible to the K - 12 audience. There's even a pollen-scum drawing! You may fault the pollen-grain illustration, but the page
    gets my vote for best K-12 pollen-education on the internet.


    The Palynology Site of the Month for March, 1999 is Dr. Terry J. Hutter's web site, The Paleozoic Palynomorph of the Month.
    A different palynomorph is featured for each of 41 months. Each month has a high-quality micrograph of the palynomorph, the original nomenclature citation for the palynomorph, and amendments, morphological characteristics, and comments regarding the geographical, geological, and chronological distribution of the palynomorph.
    The web page, one of many maintained by Hutter (follow the links !) is clean and well-designed and features an unobtrusive Java applet that doesn't disrupt browsers that aren't Java-enabled. The quality of the information and execution of this web page are exemplary.


    The Palynology Site of the Month for February, 1999 is the Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology LPP web site, hosting The Glossary of Pollen and Spore Terminology The Glossary is edited by LPP Graduate Student Peter Hohn and is maintained by an anonymous webmaster. The site is an electronic version of LPP's 1996 publication The page includes an Introduction, New Terms, a five-part glossary, and a literature survey. Each term is carefully defined, with a literature review. Many of the terms are excellently illustrated, in color.
    This is certainly one of the most attractive and useful palynology web sites on the internet, and it gets my vote for being the best internet publication in palynology. And, it's **FREE OF CHARGE**.


    The Palynology Site of the Month for January, 1999 is The AASP Web Page This site is managed by Paul Strother. It contains a number of usefull pages, and the one I most often use is the World palynology e-mail & WWW directory. The directory provides both the e-mail address for palynologists world-wide, and an e-mail link to them through the server's "mailto" utility. The site is written in simple HTML, fast to load, and compatible with most browsers. The site gives background information on the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists (AASP), and information on how to join. Some other useful pages of the AASP site include its Tables of Contents & Abstracts for recent volumes of AASP's journal PALYNOLOGY, and Titles and Abstracts for recent AASP meetings. The site hosts FTP downloads of the seventeen AASP "PALYDISKS" of bibliographic information and software. Other pages include an AASP Members bulletin board, and a Trading Center for books .... (updated 3/00)


    The Palynology Site of the Month for December, 1998 is The CAP web page The CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PALYNOLOGISTS (CAP) site is managed by (Alwynne B. Beaudoin. It is a simple HTML site, fast to load, and compatible with most browsers. The site focuses on CAP activities and membership, and even displays the organization's by-laws. It has a page with links to five Canadian Institutions with Palynology Programs, and addresses (including e-mail links) to CAP members. Some nice services the site provides are pages of links to palynology-related sites on the internet, and to related disciplines. Don't forget to set a bookmark on your browser to the list of Palynologists' Equipment and Laboratory Supplies


    The Palynology Site of the Month for November, 1998 is The IFPS web page The International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS) site contains links to IFPS affiliate societies, and e-mail links to IFPS Officers. It also hosts a searchable database of the addresses, e-mail addresses, and web pages of over 4000 IFPS members.

    Owen Davis